Live cattle futures saw some steadier trade in the front months, down a dime to 12 cents higher, with other contracts up 15 to 47 cents. December was up $2.77 for the week. Cash trade was relatively slow this week. The Friday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed sales one lot at $230, with other bids of $226-228, as one dressed lot was sold at $355. Feeder cattle futures was $1.05 to $2.22 higher across the board on Friday, with a weekly gain of $6.22. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.52 on October 22 to $345.09.
Managed money held a net long position of 51,143 contracts as of Tuesday in live cattle futures and options, an increase of 2,395 contracts on the week mainly via a drop in short interest. CFTC data showed speculators in feeder cattle futures and options adding 1592 contracts to their net long position as of October 20th to 10,444 contracts.
