Sort & Cull

What a way to start the new week. The Dow Jones opened over 1,000 points lower at Monday's start and tensions between Iran and Israel only seem to be getting worse. Consequently, both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets plummeted dramatically in response.

I've gotten multiple emails, numerous texts and Facebook messages, and a couple calls from fellow cattlemen frantically asking, "What in the hell is going on and what do I do?"

And while I wish I could tell you exactly how many days this downturn will last and how far the market intends to fall during this move, those unfortunately are questions that only time will be able to answer.

There's a chance this turmoil could be done and forgotten about in a week. But in my time spent tracking the markets, it's become quite apparent the market cautiously advances, but when the tide turns and pressure builds, the market crashes lower without a care.

I know these days are painful. I know what days are daunting and costly and stressful. But I urge you to the best of your ability resist emotional kneejerk reactions and try to sort out your business in a level-headed manner. I would begin by assessing all your options and thinking carefully about whether you really need to change your plan of action.

Rarely do I think it's wise to change your course of action on a whim. Only do so if carefully thought through all of your options, weighed out the different outcomes, and have come to terms soberly with a different action plan.

There's little logic to apply to the market's behavior today other than that chaos spreads rapidly and today's performance is just another reminder that in market environments like this, fundamentals don't matter much -- even if we wish they did.

Shayle Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com

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