Release: 4658-02
For Release: June 20, 2002

CFTC TO BRIEF IOWA CATTLEMEN ON CATTLE MARKET

Washington D.C. – On Friday, June 21, 2002, William Kokontis, Acting Director of Surveillance, Division of Economic Analysis, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will present a statistical update of the Commission’s April 19, 2002, Report on Cattle Futures Trading During March/April 2002, during a meeting of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA) to be held at the Scheman Building in Ames, Iowa. Specifically, Mr. Kokontis will give his report update at 12:30 p.m., during the ICA’s luncheon program, and he will answer questions on the original report and its update during a 1:15 p.m. meeting of the ICA’s Live Cattle Marketing Committee.

By way of background, the Commission, on its own initiative, as well as in response to inquiries and requests from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and other industry groups, directed its Market Surveillance staff to review fundamental market data and conduct an intensive review of large-trader activity relative to trading in live cattle futures and options contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) from March 1 to April 12, 2002. This effort, which resulted in the April 19, 2002, report to the Commission, was initially prompted by a market reaction to news of animal health testing in Kansas. It subsequently was expanded to analyze a significant price decrease in cattle over a period of several weeks.

In conducting this review and writing the subsequent report, Commission staff, among other things, analyzed cattle futures and options data, which included the positions and activity of commodity funds, local traders, packers, and cattle feeders. Commission staff also worked closely with staff of the CME and the United States Department of Agriculture.

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