Omaha daily bee., 1889-02-21
THE SPECULATIVE MARKETS,
Wheat Very Nervous, With Bear
ish Sentiment.
CORN CLOSES A SHADE HIGHER.
Provisions in n Somewhat Nervous
Condition--Ca Cattle Slow and Weak
Hogs Fairly Active, With
Down Turn.
CHICAGO PRODUCE MARKET.

CnICAGo, Feb 2O.-ISpecial Telegram TO
The BEE. Wheat was again very nervous
to-day, and fair trade was done in the pit,
but the market was not broad one. The
sentiment was bcarish and the drift Of the
prices was sympatheti with this feeling, but
the day was punctuated with numerous sud
den rallies or bulgcs and the lot of the short
selling scalpcrs was not "a happy one. The
principal topic Of discussion was the big sale
OF coo, coo bushels of cash wheat yesterday
There were some things about the transac-
tion tnat aroused a suspicion that the exact
facts about IL were not in entire harmony
with 'the authorized statement that went
out concerning it, Some went so far
as to pronounce it "a wash trade"
but there are seemingly good reasons to
believe that the trade was bona fidc, the only
point involved in uncertainty being the price
paid The trade was on up. IT, (private
tcrms), but from the unanimity with which
the "authorZcdn &c premium version was
trumpctcd about by the bull clique, it has
been suggested that "P r." in this case
meant please tell" Manager Harper was
congratulated this morning on his luck in
finding a customer willing to pay &c more
than he asked for wheat He said that he
had been misunderstood, and that what he
had said was 'that the wheat had been held
at a Sc premium over May but that he
raised the price. Such, however, is not the
writer's recollection. From another source,
usually well informed, it is learned that the
trade was on a basis of &c, premium,
and that next Tuesday the work
of loading 100000 bushels from
the elevators into vessels Will begin.
The 'monkeying" INDUCED in about the
price paid is the point that confuses the
10 lie e. Al
ance, and the mystery involving that feature
is filling the minds of the operators here and
elsewhere with unnecessary suspicion. An
other belief that was general was TO the
effect that the bull leaders had been and
were still availing themselves of the high
prices to sell out their May holdings and get
into July One result of this was to narrow
the difference between May and July, which
has been as great as l1c. The demand for
July caused an advance in that future of
2l4c, while May was bobbng around within
&c limits. rhe trading in May around
the opening was at a range of Sl.l1M1. 1919
The market kept on going down until
S109M was reached. 1t then advanced to
$11019, up to Sl.1las and off to 81 091s. Lit
tie rallies carried the price up again Irac-
tionally, but the close was at the inside.
July opened at 943sc, sold as low as 94c. and
as high as 96}2c, closing at $3.50. The last
quotations record snrnkage of 15kCGl%c in
May and gain of &c in July. The lnclina-
tion to get out of May ana over into July is
very strong. July discount is now 1414c.
There was a weak opening to the corn
market this morning. May starting at 3514c
n prominent house selling May freely and
buying April at &c under the other futures.
On the removal of the pressure referred to,
a slightly improved feeling prevailed ad-
vancing the price about &c from the lowest
point. The receipts were % cars more than
had been estimated, but were not large
enough to be taken account of. There is no.
tlceable, however, a steady increase during
the week III the proportion of No. in the
receipts, and that was probably the chief
inducement to the free offerings at the oDen
ing. The estimated receipts for to o-morrow
of only 202 cars, under the present favorable
conditions for heavy receipts, had something
to do with the Improvement, and there is
general belief also among the handlers that
in view of the heavy export demand and the
enormous home consumption encouraged by
the present low prices that much OF de-
cline from the ruling rates cannot be looked
for. The foreign and outside domestic mar
kets were about steady. The usual small
business was transacted in the pit, and as
usual was mainly confined to the local specu-
over yesterdays final figures.
In the market for oats only moderate
business was recorded with stronger tend
ency noted. After steady opening at 279sc
for May the bids were quietly advanced &c
because of the scarcity of sellers, with a fair
inquiry at 21Hc and light trading at CSC.
Though in light requests the other months
followed in u degree the lead of May, with
February salable at 25$lc The inspected re-
ceipts were less than expected, with only 76
cars estimated for tomorrow. Regular No.
2 cash oats were about &c higher, at 2594c to
go to store The Withdrawals from store
were more llberal, ,aggregating l3, 600 bushels.
The provision trade was in somewhat
nervous condition. Pork and short ribs were
relatively weaker than lard, and sold at the
lowest prices they have so far touched this
winter. Lard was quite well supported and
closed at the same prices as yesterday to 216c
higher. In pork the decline actually suf
fered amounted to l0@l5c, and IN short ribs
TO nc.