Markets
Beef Profit Tracker: Packer Margins Improve to -$191.89/head, Feeder Margins Improve to $295.48/head
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Jan. 24.
Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says he was concerned the trade might view a slightly bearish Cattle on Feed report placement number as a reason to sell but the market was more focused on the higher cash trade Friday.
Live and feeder cattle futures were weaker to start Friday as the market was seeing some profit taking and caution ahead of the USDA Cattle on Feed Report according to Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Jan. 17
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says with the confirmation of no cases of NWS in the U.S. the cattle market should rebound Tuesday. However, with outside markets seeing risk off selling that may temper some of the buying interest in cattle.
Joe Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says cattle futures were down early on liquidation ahead of the three day weekend, lack of fed cash news and a rumor of NWS in the U.S.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Jan. 10.
Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says strong cash has been supportive of the cattle futures and he expects a higher week in the fed market again this week. Grains are still digesting USDA’s bearish reports.
October results are in and the data is positive for the U.S. red meat industry.
Live and feeder cattle futures were lower early Friday but Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek says it didn’t take long for the markets to firm up supported by the cash market.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Jan. 3.
Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the recent strength in cattle has been a combination of fund buying and higher cash trade. He predicts that will continue into first quarter of 2026.
Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says cattle futures saw a chart breakout, pushed by fundamental factors. Meanwhile, the soybean market saw technical selling and pressure from mostly favorable weather in South America.
Rich Nelson with Allendale, Inc. says there is a general lack of news for the grain markets so some of the pressure is coming from end of the quarter and end of the year positioning by traders.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Dec. 27.
Joe Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the live and feeder cattle futures board has remained sideways since around Dec. 11. However, there is one thing that could break that trend.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Dec. 20.
Live and feeder cattle futures made new highs for the move Monday morning after a strong close Friday and higher weekly closes. However, the big catalyst is the bullish USDA Cattle on Feed Report data according to Rich Nelson of Allendale, Inc.
Scott Varilek, Kooima Kooima Varilek says live cattle futures are higher despite some lower Northern cash trade. However, this week the trend has been sideways with the market unable to take out chart resistance.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Dec. 13
Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the cattle futures are overbought after last week’s higher weekly closes. So this is a healthy correction.
Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek says cattle futures are finding support from sharply higher fed cash trade. So, if that can continue he is mildly optimistic about futures continuing to push higher.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Dec. 6.
Brad Kooima says both live and feeder cattle futures markets struggled Monday as the huge recovery off the lows put contracts up into 50% retracement levels.
Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says Thursday saw the volume of live sale prices at $220, up $10 from last week but even some $222 developed in Iowa.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Profit Tracker for week of Nov. 29.
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says he would be more confident about the lows holding in the cattle futures if three factors would turn positive.
The question now is was this just a correction of the oversold status in the cattle markets? While a higher weekly close is positive, Varilek says recoveries often come in three day waves.