TOP STORIES

Fat Brands Down 9.6% After Thursday Surge

Fat Brands Inc. shares were recently down 9.6% at $6.34 after skyrocketing Thursday on news that the company is buying Johnny Rockets Group Inc. for about $25 million.

Muscle Maker Up 16%

Shares of Muscle Maker Inc. recently traded up 16% to $2.93.

The parent of Muscle Maker Grill and Healthy Joe's didn't appear to issue any press releases or regulatory filings on Friday. On Wednesday, the company filed for a stock offering.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Weekend U.S.-China Talks On Trade Deal Postponed Indefinitely: Report -- MarketWatch

The U.S. and China have canceled plans for a virtual weekend meeting to assess their so-called phase one trade deal as it hits its six-month mark, Bloomberg reported (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-14/u-s-china-postpone-weekend-talks-on-trade-deal) Friday afternoon, citing people familiar with the matter. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had planned to hold a video conference call over the weekend, but the meeting has been postponed indefinitely, the report said. The USTR's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Finish Higher as Chinese Prices Rise -- Market Talk

15:19 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME close up 1.3% to 53.025 cents per pound. The rise seen in US futures prices appears to be mirroring the rise of Chinese prices for pork. "China continues to see its pork values rise at an incredible rate," says Karl Setzer of AgriVisor. "The value of pork in China is now a large 85.7% greater than a year ago as the country continues to struggle with African Swine Fever losses." Meanwhile, live cattle futures finish trading slightly higher, up 0.1% at $1.10225 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Aug 14 
 
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 
 
Aug 14       +$ 73.55            +$ 27.27 
Aug 13       +$ 72.43            +$ 24.75 
Aug 12       +$ 67.77            +$ 20.45 
 
* 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   90.7 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select   94.6 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday rose $3.29 per hundred pounds, to $214.24, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.88 per hundred pounds, to $199.29. The total load count was 126. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.17, to $74.42 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2020 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)

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