4/12/18 was up +0.33 to 53.4 which is 50% of the cash settlement index. The JJJs are now trading premium to the component by 0.48. To close that "Gap" the component on today's kill will need to soar by 0.96. My friends, I'm a "Doubting Thomas" on that one so I sold a bucketful of JJJs this morning. Several days ago I thought it was time to get short for cash settlement but when there was a reversal of the Purchase Index I covered the short JJJs. I didn't do my homework well enough and let my emotions whip-saw me out of a couple of good positions.

The fact seems to remain that the down trend is broken and we are headed higher; it's just that it won't be higher fast enough to close the "Gap" today.

The 6-day moving average carcass weight firmed to 215.20#. That is +1.7# yr/yr. Index hogs were steady at 213.92#. Producers seem to be fairly current in their shipments it's just that they are producers are finishing their hogs to heavier weights now-a-days.

Best wishes,,

dhm