The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-18
WHEAT LOWER IN CHICAGO.
The Market Touches &I.I5 and Quickly
Breaks to $1.O31%.

CHICAGO, Aug. Ii.-IhlS was another
banner day in wheat Saturdays con-
fusion could hardly be exceeded, yet
visitors in the gallery today were well en-
tertained and gentlemen on the floor were
not heard to complain of lack of action.
Before the exchange opened the bears
were predicting big drop, while the en-
thusiastic of the bulls were talking $l.25
wheat. When business began a familiar
nowl went up, and it was impossible for
awhile to tell what was being done. De-
cember wheat closed Saturday at $1061%.
The opening this morning was Si.09 bid,
$l.10 bid, Sill bid and $1111z bid.
Some was had at all the prices named in
the first few seconds. Within the first
three-quarters of an hour there had been
sales at S1.121I, S1.1314, and some at $1.14
In the height of the excitement one trade
was made for 10000 bushels at $1.15.' Sud-
denly it became known that several houses
with foreign connection in orders were
selling heavily. This was enough. If
there had been wildness in previous buy
ing, there was little shOlt of insanity in
the selling craze which followed. The bears
who had been too frightened TO sell for
several hours, made a combined onslaught,
in which they aided the ones
who had been following the bull lead.
December dropped, and the most deter
mined efforts of the bulls would only re-
suit in keeping it up for moment. Within
very few minutes it had reached Los.
Then. favorable bull news coming in. it
advanced to $l.07, but after an hour of
see-sawing back and forth near that figure,
it declined to $l.0414, then advanced to
$L05%. About noon a telegram was re-
ceived from b. p. Hutchinson, by one
of his friends, saying: Foreigners selling
frantically, and wheat will drop" The
dissemination of this prophecy encouraged
the bears, and the excitement quieted
down. Then many longs" figured out
that they were drawing on shoal, and
as a result became panic-stricken. Early
buyers turned sellers. Bears pushed. and
December dropped with a rush to $103,
finally closing at $l.03I.
Old traders said the rapidity and wide
range of fluctuations today exceeded any
thing ever seen on the board. Trades were
not taken by brokers on less than a 10
cent margin. On the curb there was much
wild trading. December sold at S1.0l;
calls were TO be had for $L0l15 and puts.
9skc.
As things stood today at the close it is
said no Chicago man made a cent, and
while most of them lost, many now have
their entire fortunes at stake and were
buying and selling in the same moment
TO protect themselves. New Workers
are reported to have most of the
money. One prominent broker held that
il is farmer market" The advance to
the farmer has been over 20 cents bushel.
Opinions among dealers and brokers are
at the bottom of the present furry. The
idea that the manipulators were New York
Spectators is now generally secuted. The
general notion is that short wheat abroad
has drawn many heavy foreign buyers into
the market, and the upward tendency has
found Chicago holding short. One we'll
posted broker lays all the uncertainty to
Russia. "If Chicago people knew" said
he. what Russia's wheat amounts 10, or
what to expect from Europe, they would
know what to do. But as 1t is, they have
no idea where they stand and nothing TO
go by"
The excitement on the board today was
not confined to wheat, but quickly spread
to corn. rye and oats. August corn jumped
from 6415c 10 70l4 in half an hour, then
declined TO CSC September corn advanced
10 bNc ana uecilueu 10 o0]4- hyt Huttereu
until it was difficult to keep track of it be-
tween $l.06 and S1.10 throughout the ses-
sion. This tends to show the character of
the market.
A remarkable feature is that despite the
markets wild character, there have been
no suspensions. Margins have been
promptly forthcoming, and the fears of
Saturday that today would see many
traders go to the wall have been happily
unfounded.