Large commodity investment funds, called managed money, had a new, higher net long live cattle futures position as of Tuesday of 103,278 contracts, the largest since Tuesday, Dec. 5, said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The CFTC made the announcement in its weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday. Managed money’s new cattle position was the fifth straight run of larger weekly net long live cattle positions by these traders.
Managed money’s new position was up 8,417 contracts, or 8.87%, from the previous week’s 94,861. It also was up 31,213 contracts, or 43.3%, from the most recent low of 72,065 on Jan. 16.
At the same time, commercial traders, those who theoretically could make or take delivery of a futures contract and primarily are hedgers, extended their net short live cattle position to 197,405 contracts from 189,749 the previous week, an increase of 7,656, or 4.03%. This was their largest net short position since the week ended Dec. 5 when it was 116,073.
The CFTC said managed money arrived at its new net long cattle position by adding 9,069 long positions and 652 short positions while unwinding 1,973 spread positions. This left them representing 31.0% of total long open interest, 3.4% of total short open interest and 9.4% of total spread open interest.
Commercial traders got to where they were Tuesday by liquidating 4,990 long positions and adding 2,666 short positions, leaving them in control of 6.5% of total long open interest and 59.2% of total short open interest.
The CME Group said live cattle open interest as of Tuesday was 374,730 contracts, up 7,455, or 2.03%, from 367,275 the previous week.
During the CFTC reporting week, the most-active Apr contract rose to set a cycle high of $127.95 on Tuesday before closing at $127.72. The previous Tuesday’s close was $124.77.
FUNDS GO LONG CORN
During the week ended Tuesday, managed money had a net long CBOT corn position, the first in six months, the CFTC said.
Managed money’s new corn position is 22,396 contracts compared with a net short position of 5,216 the previous week. It was the culmination of five weeks of net buying.
At the same time, commercial traders extended their net short corn position to 362,429 contracts, the largest since July 18, when it was short by 364,418.
The CFTC said managed money arrived at its new long corn position by adding 7,324 long positions, covering 20,288 short positions and putting on 10,844 spread positions. This left them representing 15.8% of total long open interest, 14.5% of total short open interest and 9.4% of total spread open interest.
Commercial traders got to their new position by liquidating 16,684 long positions and adding 2,670 short positions to leave them holding 23.4% of total long open interest and 45.0% of total short open interest.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
No fed cattle sold Wednesday on the Livestock Exchange Video Auction for the second straight week.
Cash cattle traded last week at $127 to mostly $128 and up to $129 per cwt on a live basis, down $1 to $2 from the bulk of the previous week’s action. Dressed-basis sales were reported at $204 to $205, steady to up $2.
The USDA’s choice cutout Friday was down $0.03 per cwt at $218.37, while select was up $0.76 at $212.82. The choice/select spread narrowed to $5.55 from $6.34 with only 41 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Thursday, was $147.63 per cwt, down $0.42. This compares with Friday’s Mar settlement of $146.00, unchanged.