Managed money and commercial traders cut their respective net long and net short positions in the week ending Tuesday, according to the weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday.
The weekly Commitments of Traders report is published by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission weekly listing the respective commitments of different types of futures traders on the previous Tuesday.
FUNDS DOWNSIZE LONG POSITION
Managed money, a proxy for large commodity investment firms, Tuesday had a collective net long live cattle futures position of 123,750 contracts, down 3,803, or 2.98%, from 127,553 a week earlier.
Commercial traders, a moniker for cattle owners and hedgers, Tuesday had a total net short live cattle position of 124,648 contracts, down 2,905, or 2.28%, from 127,553 a week earlier.
The CFTC report said managed money Tuesday held 151,857 long live cattle positions, or 38.9% of total open interest, down 2,759. They also held 28,107 short positions, or 7.2% of total open interest, for a gain of 763, and they held 39,928 spread positions, or 10.2% of total open interest, for a decline of 1,559.
Meanwhile, commercial traders held 61,122 long live cattle positions, or 15.7% of total open interest, for a gain of 4,777. They also had 185,770 short positions, or 47.6% of total open interest, for a gain of 1,872.
Total live cattle open interest at the CME was 390,028 contracts, up 5,174, or 1.23%, from 384,854 a week earlier.
During the CFTC-reporting week, the most-active Dec contract rose in value to settle Tuesday at $235.15 per cwt, versus $281.17 a week earlier.
MANAGED MONEY COVERS CORN SHORTS
Tuesday, managed money had a collective net short corn position of 81,497 contracts, down 18,096, or 18.2%, from 99,593 a week earlier.
At the same time, commercials had a total net short corn position of 156,836 contracts, up 20,050, or 14.7%, from 136,786 a week earlier.
The CFTC said managed money Tuesday held 217,894 long corn positions, or 14.2% of total open interest, for a decline of 7,456. They also held 299,391 short positions, or 19.6% of total open interest, for a decline or 25,552, and they held 224,154 spread positions, or 14.7% of total open interest, for an increase of 23,034.
Commercials Tuesday held 415,020 long corn positions, or 27.1% of total open interest, for a decline of 2,482, and they had 571,856 short positions, or 37.4% of total open interest for an increase of 17,568.
At the CME, corn open interest totaled 1.529 million contracts, up from 1.478 million a week earlier.
The most-active Dec contract rose in value during thew CFTC-reporting week to settle at $4.29 ½ a bushel, versus $4.19 ¾ a week earlier.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers last week ranged from $238.00 per cwt to $245.28, compared with the previous week’s range of $242.51 to $246.00 per cwt. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $377.32 per cwt to $385.32, compared with $381.50 to $385.49.
The USDA choice cutout Friday was down $3.76 per cwt at $382.05 while select was down $1.39 at $359.92. The choice/select spread narrowed to $22.13 from $24.50 with 108 loads of fabricated product and 22 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $431.41 per cwt, and 50% beef was $147.00.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.05 to $1.20 a bushel over the Dec corn contract, which settled at $4.24, down $0.00 1/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Thursday was $360.63 per cwt, down $1.99. This compares with Friday’s Sep contract settlement of $359.15, up $0.97.