4/7/16 was down -0.11 to 66.51. The JJJs are trading lower and that has cut the "Gap" to 0.32 with the JJJs still premium to the component. Now they will mostly march in lock-step.

The six-day moving average carcass weight firmed ever so slightly to 214.55# which is -0.46# year over year. Packer hogs are heavier by 2.98# and index hogs are lower at 213.31#. The firmness in weights suggest that producers may have ample numbers of hogs to ship. The percentage of packer hogs killed yesterday was quite a bit lower than usual.

The up-trend in in the Purchase Index and the CME Lean Hog Index stopped yesterday but it did not do a serious reversal. Perhaps this suggests that we are about where the JJJs will go to cash settlement.

Did you happen to check the cattle/hog spread, ITZ? It has been strong today with cattle up and hogs down.

Best wishes,

dhm