Live cattle futures were up by 45 to 82 cents on Friday. That extended the gain for the October contract to $2.35 for the week. USDA confirmed another day of solid cash market volume on Friday. Prices were mainly near $178-$179 for TX, which is even wk/wk. Northern business was near $185, which was steady to $2 weaker from last week. Feeder cattle futures ended Friday trading with $0.45 to $1.12 gains on the board. Sep was at a net $2.67 gain for the week, while Nov was up a net $3.97. The CME Feeder Cattle Index increased 39 cents on 8/23 to $245.14.
The weekly CoT report showed the managed money spec fund net long at a 21-wk low of 89.7k contracts. The spec traders also reduced their net long in feeders through the week, 1,309 contracts lighter to 12,378 contracts as of 8/22.
