Omaha daily bee., 1890-01-18
THE SPECULATIVE MARKETS.
Wheat For the Most Part Charac-
terized BY Dullness.
;cALpeRs DESERT THE CORN PIT
postings of Oats Show Extremely
Light Receipts ana Business Neg
lected-provisions bulldogs
in Good Demand.
CHICAGO PRODUCE MARKETS.

- 1
CHICAGO, Jan. 17.-lSpecial Telegram to
The BEE. Wheat made a brave start, with
May selling at sl5Sc. The price had been bid
up on the curb and the market at the opening
presented an appearance OF strength. Lead.
Ing local traders offered wheat freely at size
and sold the market down, first to sl&Sc,
then TO size and later to Sic. Cudahy,
Partridge and Hutchinson were the names
most freely mentioned as liberal sellers,
Near the middle of the session the scalpers
gave it out that a leading privilege trader"
who is also a conspicuous Short" was try
ing to force the price down in order
TO get a big line OF wheat
putt TO him and thus fill
his contracts without being obliged to go
into the open market and buy property. This
is a device well understood among specula-
tors, but an open play has not been attempts
ed before In years owing TO the embargo on
privilege trading. The action at the annual
meeting on Monday seems to have been
taken by some as tacit PERMISSION to resume
old practices. Such PERMISSION may be
withheld, however, but today the feature
referred TO was tho thing most generally
discussed on the floor up to noon,
and, the truth is, not commonly in compli-
mentary terms. The weakest point of the
session was toward the last. Trading was
active early and then occurred a lull in oper-
atoms extending over a period of possibly
two hours. In the last half hour the deal
ings were on a very generous scale and the
market was plugged full of wheat. The
price broke from size TO sic, the lowest
price vet ruling for May wheat, and the
close was at the very bottom. The last QUO
T1sc; May Sic; July, 79lic. The
closings record u loss of 1000 as
compared with yesterday and in May a
Huctuation of sc in the days prices. Yes
terday afternoon the point was given out that
o proposition from a prominent operator to
form a pool to buy s, o00, 900 bushels and bull
the market was held IN allegiance only on
account Of the illness Of one of the parties
said to be interested, the inference beng
that as soon as the gentleman could over
come a mild attack of grip the scheme would
be put in operation. This report may have
had something to do with the strong open
wrong, ana, Judging from the record made
by the 'prominent operator" today, 1t was
a bear instead of q bull pool that was pro-
posed. The sick man must also have recov-
cred his health.
The wheat trade was dull for the most
part. but that word does not begin 10 char
acterize the condition of affairs which pre-
vailed around the corn pit. There was moth
ing IN the outlook to foster any desire to
trade, the most restless and interchangeable
scalpers DESERVING the uncongenial neighbor-
hood of so uull a market. The Liverpool
market was quoted easy and eastern centers
acted in sympathy with foreign advices.
There were moderate clearances
from the seaboard. and at the
easier prices prevailing there u good demand
was noted on foreign orders, easier ocean
reach their limits. Receipts here were less
than yesterdays estimates. amounting to
only 11S carloads, of which twenty-tnree
were No. 2. transactions were few and far
hptwnpn and the IppaRnnlpp fnnn nf tho
wheat market caused the undertone in corn
to lean IN the same direction, and the more
decided slump in wheat near the close Gre
ated more pronounced weakness In corn also.
The closing quotations were: February,
2S1s@294c, ana May 1880 bid.
AT no time for many days past were the
receipts of oats as light as indicated by the
postings today. with only eighty-three cars
Inspected. While there was a fair demand
for cash oats, the speculative market was
tame and rather neglected. With the crowd
inclined to sell May and little buying sup
port developed the feeling was easy around
22c. with near months about steady. For
January 2O1sc was bid and No. 2 IN store
sold sparlngly ut 2O14c. Improved in
quiry at New York for export with more
favorable ocean fre,ghts was reported, with
10000 bushels taken last evening. No. 9
white oats for May delivery were dull at
235s92316c.
Speculative trading in hog products was
again ''as dead us u door nnil' today. I'm
derwood bought a jag of May pork on call
and during the regular session Geddes pur-
chased a little pork and Armour q little lard
all for Ma Y delivery--aside from which
business in futures was at almost a complete
standstill. With reference to pre-.
vailing apathy in speculation q broker
remarked: "Packers would probably
come in and buy IL prices
should decline appreciably, but they are not
selling the product ahead.n The fact Is, they
are having an excellent cash trade, q trade
with which they are well satisfied, both as
to volume and profits. At present prices
there ought to be a profit of SOC on every
hog killed. The demand for distribution,
both home and foreign, is active. as statistics
show, and western packers are smoking out
short ribs as fast as their facilities will
admit OF. In ordinary seasons the demand
for smoked meats does not start up until
April or May. Throughout the session May
property was pegged around 50. S71S(G9. 90 for
pork, S6.05M6,071S for lard and s.. 4O05.4 2L&
for ribs, which is about where the market
has held stubbornly for a week or more.
May pork SOLD at s9.s714@a.90 and closed at
$3.50, being 213c above yesterdays closing.
The same future of lard sold at 81. 0516, OK
aud ribs at 1900. 9211ss, botn closing at the
outside figures.