Live Cattle futures spreads: Bullish

  • The June-August closed May at $9.20
    • as compared to the end of April settlement at $5.325
    • with the previous 5-year high weekly close for the last week at May at $6.125
  • The August-October closed May at $8.625
    • as compared to the end of April settlement of $5.20
    • with the previous 5-year high weekly close for the last week of May at $1.95
  • The October-December closed May at $0.725
    • as compared to the end of April settlement at $0.85
    • with the previous 5-year average weekly close for the last week of May at (-$0.775)
  • Bottom Line: Futures spreads continue to indicate a bullish supply and demand situation short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term. Based on Rule #6 (Fundamentals win in the end), this makes Rule #1 (Don’t get crossways with the trend) more difficult given the futures market moved to a long-term downtrend at the end of May, from a technical point of view (see Monthly Analysis).

Feeder Cattle futures spreads: Bullish

  • The August-September closed May at $3.075
    • as compared to the end of April settlement of $1.55
  • The September-October closed May at $3.325
    • as compared to the end of April settlement of $2.225
  • The August-October closed May at $6.40
    • as compared to the
    • previous 5-year average weekly close for the last week of May of $3.125 from 2025
  • Bottom Line: Commercial traders continued to support the feeder cattle market. As with live cattle, the major (long-term) trend of the futures market still looks to be down (see Monthly Analysis).

Lean Hogs futures spreads: Neutral-Bearish

  • The June-August closed May at (-$2.50)
    • as compared to the end of April settlement at (-$3.175)
    • with the previous 5-year low weekly close for the last week of May at (-$2.75)
  • The August-October closed May at $13.075
    • as compared to the end of April settlement at $14.925
    • and the previous 5-year average weekly close for the last week of May at $14.10
  • The October-December closed May at $7.15
    • as compared to the end of April settlement at $7.825
    • with the previous 5-year average weekly close for the last week of May at $7.80
  • Bottom Line: Lean hogs saw mixed commercial activity during May with light buying in the nearby June-August and selling in deferred spreads. The commercial outlook remains generally neutral heading into the summer quarter.