LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
January 22 2021 - 5:23PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
BJ's Restaurants Shares Drop After Update, Possible Stock
Sale
BJ's Restaurants Inc.'s shares struggled Friday after the
restaurant chain warned of a drop in sales in the final quarter of
last year and opened the door to an up to $25 million equity
raising.
In morning trading, the stock was 4.9% lower at $43.97. It has
risen 12% over the past 12 months and is up 14% so far in
January.
Bob Evans Recalls About 4,200 Pounds of Sausage Products Due to
Possible Presence of Rubber
Bob Evans Farms Inc., part of Post Holdings Inc., is recalling
about 4,200 pounds of Italian pork sausage products due to the
potential presence of thin blue rubber.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection
Service said the recalled item has lot code 0352 and a use/freeze
by date of Jan. 31. The item was shipped to stores in Indiana,
Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Bank of America Sees US Restaurant Recovery -- Market Talk
13:54 ET - Bank of America says it sees a recovery for US
restaurants in 2021 "as consumer comfort with dining out likely
recovers and the survivors of the economic and credit crunch take
market share." BofA believes 10%-15% of restaurant units closed
their doors in 2020. The bank says there is evidence stimulus
checks, which mostly hit bank accounts in early January, had an
effect on recent spending. Total Bank of America card spending on
restaurants over the two weeks ended Saturday was down 10%, versus
the 19% decline over the two weeks ended Jan. 2, which included
Christmas and New Year's. (michael.dabaie@wsj.com)
Surging Grain Prices Fuel Surprise Farm Recovery
A crop glut that battered American farmers is subsiding, fueling
an unexpected recovery in the U.S. Farm Belt following a yearslong
agricultural recession.
Prices for corn, soybeans and wheat have soared to their highest
levels in more than six years as dry weather and strong export
demand from China drain U.S. stockpiles.
FUTURES MARKETS
Livestock Futures Turn Corner as Grains Collapse -- Market
Talk
15:12 ET - Steep losses in grains futures helped fuel an uptick
in livestock futures Friday. Live cattle futures finished up 2.1%
to $1.22575 per pound, while lean hog futures finished up 3% to
76.15 cents per pound. For hog futures, that makes it 7.6% that
they've risen since January 15, effectively reversing the negative
momentum of the first half of the month. For cattle, trading closed
ahead of the release of the USDA's cattle on feed report -- which
showed placements of 1.84 million head, the highest for January
since 1996. Lower grains futures translates to lower feed costs for
livestock producers. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 22
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations.
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Jan 22 +$ 51.11 +$ 40.71
Jan 21 +$ 43.45 +$ 39.47
Jan 20 +$ 39.73 +$ 39.31
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of
production of the animals.
Beef-O-Meter
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.
Beef
For Today Choice 103.7
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 100.6
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday rose $1.62 per hundred
pounds, to $222.82, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose
$3.06 per hundred pounds, to $213.34. The total load count was 143.
Wholesale pork prices rose $2.58, to $81.34 a hundred pounds, based
on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 22, 2021 17:08 ET (22:08 GMT)
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