In lean hogs, on a seasonal basis, we have generally tighter supplies from the start of the year into April. After late April, supply takes a more dramatic decline into the year's lows in the summer. That does not mean price goes straight up in this period. Spring is a period where a little shake-up is normally seen. Traders are aware of a slight slump in prices from the minor February or March peak into spring.

U.S. chicken and pork exports could benefit from continued problems this year; FOR live cattle, The general adage is that we get two limited rallies each winter due to storms/cold weather.

Unlike cattle, hog futures didn't get too excited about the cold temperature issue.

USDA's daily kill estimate today showed a minor revision for last week.

Officially the general uptrend in hog futures pricing still stands.

Lean hog futures continued their mild rebound. Today marks the seventh day since the Nov. 15 minor low was placed; Though cattle prices did have a sharp drop from spring highs down to summer lows, the general theme since August has been bullish.

Futures did well today. This is likely more from the cattle market touching limit up today than any new news for hogs but no one will complain too much.

New highs were reached in hog during yesterday's move. It was not that surprising to see how well live cattle futures came back from the lower open today.

It is our belief that this rally in hogs is ending. We may not go right back down but certainly, need to see better news in this market quickly. December live cattle futures came within 15 cents of retesting the September 22 mini-price peak.

Futures traded mixed Monday, lower in the morning but up by the afternoon. The likely reason was more of a gap-filling move on the December than any real change in fundamentals. The December exactly filled the upside gap to 57.75. The type of day, with a lower low than the previous session but also a higher high, is called an Outside Day. The close higher implies slightly higher trade tomorrow morning.