What it is
Young cattle that have been weaned and raised on pasture and are ready to be fattened in a feedlot. They are the raw material of the beef industry, bought by feedlots and sold on months later as live cattle.
How it is usually quoted
US cents per pound.
This is the customary unit of the reference market. Other markets for the same commodity may use another unit or currency, and an exchange can change a contract’s terms: its own rulebook is the authority.
Where the reference contract trades
CME, settled in cash against an index of US sale prices.
Named for orientation only. Naming an exchange or a market here does not mean that GIO4X gives access to it.
What commonly moves it
- The cost of maize: dearer feed makes a young animal worth less to a feedlot
- Pasture conditions and drought
- The size of the national herd, which rises and falls over years
- The price of finished cattle
These are the things people who follow this market usually watch. They explain how the market works; they do not say what the price will do next.
Where it comes from
The contract is a United States one. Calves are raised across the Great Plains and the South, in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas.
The order of producers changes from year to year, so no quantities or shares are given here.
At GIO4X
Feeder cattle is not offered as a GIO4X instrument. This page is general education about a market that exists elsewhere, and nothing on it means that GIO4X quotes, trades or gives access to it.
The commodities GIO4X does list are Brent crude, gold, natural gas, palladium, platinum, silver and WTI crude.
Words worth knowing
A reference page. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. It gives no price and no forecast.