5/18/15 was up +0.67 to 82.95. That puts the index at +1.17 over the MMMs. Apparently traders have now concluded that there is some weakness on the way for the Index and accordingly they have taken a little air out of their bids for the MMMs.

The six-day moving average carcass weight eased to 213.08#. That is -3.44# down from the same date last year. Both packer hogs and non-packer hogs were lighter in weight but the packer hogs were down way more than the non-packer hogs. Packer hogs are still running +4.12# heavier than non-packer hogs. This suggests that packers are not opposed to processing heavy hogs.

It also suggests that producers are quite current in their shipments. The high kill rate earlier in the year has partially been from producers liquidating some of their heavier hogs.

At this point I can't tell whether I will be scaling into some more Q/V spreads or scaling out of the ones that are already on board. I will be happy to go either way.

Best wishes,

dhm