5/11/17 was up +1.49 to 71.38. That will be 50% of the cash settlement index for the KKKs. The model is now projecting that the cash settlement index will be 72.13 with a range of 71.88 to 72.38. A trend did not develop that enabled the model to project the cash settlement for the KKKs very early this year.

The six-day moving average carcass weight is steady at 211.89#. That is -1.38# year over year. It appears that producers are very current in their shipments. Index hogs are lighter at 211.62#. The combination of lower index carcass weights and low purchases yesterday has me thinking that index hogs may have been pulled forward a little and the supply of hogs is a bit lower than projected by the last H&P report. The number of packer hogs in the kill-mix continues to be higher than usual. This makes we think that packers may have expanded their production capability and that is where most of the expansion is that the USDA reported. The Packer hogs were 1.34# heavier than non-packer hogs. This is most likely telling us that packers are needing more pork.

Week2 T-Bond options expire this afternoon so I will be busy the rest of the afternoon getting my bond portfolios balanced for the week3 options.

Best wishes,

dhm