Omaha daily bee., 1888-12-27
THE SPECULATIVE MARKETS.
A Grand Slump in Wheat Routs
the Bulls.
PROVISIONS LACK SUPRoR
Trading Was Far From Satisfactory
Cattle Comparatively Slow, With
Better Prospccts-Hogs
Closed Weak,
CHICAGO PRODUCE MARKEr.

CHICAGO, Dec. 2~6.-iSpecial Telegram to
TuE BEE. The wheat bulls were routed to-
day. There was a grand slump in the mar
ket that carried prices down nearly &c a
bushel. The close was very near the bot.
tom and the feeling was that Of extreme
nervousness. The range at Sl,l5 to-day re-
cords a decline Of about 20c per bushel from
the outside boom Of prices of sixty days ago.
A sale Of December wheat was reported
right on the tap Of the bell this afternoon, at
Q65lc. The other markets did not break as
much as Chicago. New York, St.
LOUIS, Toledo and the other winter wheat
markets broke 3n3ilc. Minneapolis held up
very well. New York IS now down TO ex-
port basis, but no cash business for the for
eign account is reported. This is a holiday
week in Great Britain, however, and very
little attention is paid to the business by the
gram trade. An increase of i0l, 900 bushels
in the visible supply caused a weak opening,
The attack, or series of attacks, led by Hutch
inson, found the market without support,
Before II o'clock to-day cash wheat broke
below 81. The inside range. quoted up to
that hour was 0oisc for December, 9919c for
January, and 95c for July. May sold down
TO sl.04@i. As compared with Saturday this
showed a loss of $40 for December, 33sc for
January, 3I8c for May, and 2l4c for July.
There was some recovery from the
bottom, anu IUe Wdfhtl ulsIldN'u
symptoms of strength. From IL o'clock to
IL: o'clock, the market rested easy at
81. Oi1sml.O 54 4. but the appearance of strength
proved deceptive and wheat again broke.
In about five minutes, May broke from sl.O54
to $l.O3Is, mid the greatest excitement.
A slight rally carried the price back TO Sl.04.
1t was not to rest there, however, and with
n vicious plunge it dropped TO Sl.O2}s and
then to sl.O2as. Then, with the same sud,
denness that distinguished the downward
. mnVpmpIt the nrlrp ShOt hnsK 10
S1.03i4, broke again to Sl.03, and during
the remaining few minutes of the session
the market was held ncrvously above Sl.03.
The most exciting period of the day was the
last half hour. The previous uproar dwin-
died into insigniicance and the pit was the
scene of a veritable panic. AT 1880 there had
been n lively trade and the semblanceo of a good
demand. When the market started to break
nobody wanted anything, and millions of
bushels were offered, Smash went prices.
and everybody got scared. No satisfactory
explanation could be given for the surpris-
ing manifestation, and the crowd was
left in the dark as to 'what it meant OF
course there were all sorts of wild rumors
in circulation, but nothing tangible was pre-
scented. Upon one point. however, the crowd
was agreed, and that is that one or
more big lines of wheat and in
Vulnerable small lines came out or were
shaken out to-day. Fairbauk 81 Baker and
Rcam & Pillsbury and half a dozen others
were mentioned as having sold out, but
whether any or all OF them dumped their
holdings can not be determined at
this writing. 1t IS very certain that
the decline brought out n vast
quantity of wheat. Exhausted margins and
stop loss orders can account for a far larger
proportion of wheat than was sold to-day.
The great bull commission houses
were the heaviest sellers, and the
shorts were practically the only
buyers. A good many bulls probably in
dulged in the Improbable experiment of
sfGpllnp for hnftnm y Init fhnU Inf nc a