TOP STORIES

 
Beyond Meat's Pitch for More Customers: It's Not Just Good for the Planet, It's Also Good for You. 

In the hierarchy of what motivates us to buy stuff, two powerful forces are at play: Me and we. Lots of products are good for me, but don't help the collective we. Stuff that's good for the we doesn't always benefit me. If you think humanity has become more altruistic during the pandemic, think again. "Consumers will be open to making small sacrifices that will benefit the Earth, but their appetite will be limited," Smruti Kulkarni, director of Nielsen Holdings PLC's innovation arm BASES, wrote in a recent essay on Covid-19's effect on consumer behavior. Good-for-the-planet sundries line shelves and clutter e-commerce, but "if the sustainable product is adding extra work/inconvenience, then it is likely that it will have limited appeal."

 
China's Hog Prices Continue to Fall, Decline Accelerating -- Market Talk 

0403 GMT - China's hog prices continue to fall and the decline is accelerating, says Darin Friedrichs, senior Asia commodity analyst; " I think it's likely we see a flush out and some panic selling from farmers ahead of the holiday." National average hog prices are now CNY33.67/kg, down 8.5% since the start of the month. He adds that China's pork prices are falling as well and StoneX's consumer price update this week has major cuts of pork falling to levels not seen since June.( lucy.craymer@wsj.com )

 

STORIES OF INTEREST

 
No-Deal Brexit Would Push Up UK Food Prices With Higher Tariffs -BRC 

U.K. supermarket prices are bound to rise and weigh on the already battered pockets of British consumers as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit becomes more likely, the British Retail Consortium said Friday. Supermarkets and shoppers face tariffs of 3.10 billion pounds ($3.95 billion) a year on food and drink products unless a free trade deal is reached between the UK and the European Union, the trade association said.

 
Buy McDonald's Stock, Analyst Says. Its Traffic Is Sizzling. -- Barrons.com 

McDonald's saw plenty of initial success from its collaboration with rapper Travis Scott, but Gordon Haskett argues that the partnership appears to be driving a lasting lift for the fast food giant. Analyst Jeff Farmer reiterated a Buy rating and $234 price target on McDonald's (ticker: MCD) Friday. The company's same-store sales increase midmonth, which coincided with the launch of the Travis Scott meal deal, hasn't gone unnoticed by the Street, but he argues that it's more than a one-time blip.

 

FUTURES MARKETS

 
Hog Futures Finish Week Shrugging Off USDA Report -- Market Talk 

15:14 ET - Lean-hog futures trading on the CME finished trading up 1.8% to 64.425 cents a pound. Livestock traders across the board generally rejected the results of the USDA's quarterly hogs and pigs report released following the market's close yesterday. "Lean hog traders threw away yesterday's USDA quarterly hogs and pigs report, feeling it did not reflect reality," Arlan Suderman of StoneX says. Live-cattle futures dropped ahead of this afternoon's cattle-on-feed report, falling 0.8% to $1.114. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

 

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 25 
 
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 
 
Sep 25       +$ 50.61            +$ 68.20 
Sep 24       +$ 55.26            +$ 69.75 
Sep 23       +$ 46.05            +$ 62.52 
 
* 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  102.7 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  108.7 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday rose $1.86 per hundred pounds, to $219.34, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 76 cents per hundred pounds, to $206.98. The total load count was 138. Wholesale pork prices fell 72 cents, to $90.79 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2020 17:30 ET (21:30 GMT)

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