DTN Early Word Opening Livestock       12/07 05:58
   Cattle Paper to Open Mixed as Traders Wait for the Determination of Packer
Spending

   Live and feeder futures seem staged to open mixed thanks to a slow and
cautious combination of short-covering and cash monitoring. Lean hog issues
should also open with uneven price action as traders puzzle over the ability of
late-year pork demand to handle record tonnage.

By John Harrington
DTN Livestock Analyst



Cattle: Steady-$1 HR   Futures: Mixed   Live Equiv: $139.37  + .12*
Hogs:   Steady         Futures: Mixed   Lean Equiv: $ 76.94  + .42**

* based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue
** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   If it's Friday, it must be time to trade cattle. At least that's the
schedule we've followed for a large part of the fourth quarter. The big
question is just "how big" the gulf between bids (e.g., $112 to $114 in the
South) and asking prices ($120 in the South) will be. Live and feeder futures
are set to open on a mixed basis as buyers and sellers jockey around late-week
cash prospects.