Full disclosure: I have no position! I had enough opportunity w/ my existing strategies & wasn't up to trading a US-listed pit product from Asia w/out a data feed. Maybe next time ... or on the rebound.
Ok....there is a little logic behind this. If we have to destroy cattle from disease, the price of beef will go up because of scarcity. The government will pay the farmers to destroy the cattle. Thus the future will go up. Now, if only remains a scare and people do not buy beef and other countries stop importing US beef. But there really is no disease.....we will have a surplus of cattle and the prices will come down. So the future will go down in price. Man, all this thinking gives me a headache.
the government will not require people to kill their cattle unless there is a more widespread outbreak. but of course if there is a widespread outbreak there will be no demand. i cant see any way futures go up on this anytime soon.
So I would say it will have little effect on the price. The future is locked now though. I would not want to be on that line when it reopens. Ugh I also would not short Micky D's......not much beef in that burger.