DTN Closing Livestock Comment 08/10 15:04
   Livestock Contracts Unfazed By Inflation Numbers

   Cattle and hog futures continued their upward trends on Wednesday with
enthusiastic buying during the afternoon as the U.S. Dollar Index tanked and
feed prices moderated.

Elaine Kub
Contributing Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   Higher closes across the board for livestock futures contracts Wednesday
suggest bullish traders have been heartened by the latest inflation numbers,
which confirmed meat consumers have been willing to pay higher prices year over
year. Cash cattle transactions got started just after noon on Wednesday, with a
few dressed deals in Nebraska at $229, roughly $2 higher than last week's
weighted average. Asking prices remain firm around $138 to $140 in the South,
and $230 to $232 in the North. On the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report,
negotiated prices were up $1.35 to a weighted average price of $132.48 on
25,266 head, and the 5-day rolling average was $129.56 per cwt. September corn
moved up 5 3/4 cents per bushel to $6.21 1/4 and August soybean meal closed up
$2 per ton to $515.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 515 points and
the NASDAQ was up 364 points.