The news & observer., 1897-02-10
Cotton Closed Steady at to A
Points Advance.
BEARS CONTROL STOCKS
BONDS DISPLAYED AN I'M
PROVED TENDENCY,
SHARP ADVANCE IN WHEAT
Corn Recovered I-8 and Oats AdVanc-
ed 8 to l-4--Provisions Clos
ed s to Is Gents Higher.

New York, Feb. 9--Foatowing yester-
days sharp decline good many opera
tors i'm cotton prepared for a substantial
reaction to-day. But English cables on
the average were a disappointment and
our market after opening at an advance
of sac points returned to yesterdays
closing figures and resumed the old time
regulation speculative apathy Liqui-
dation. chiefly of March contracts, was
a feature of the early trading, the sellers
being parties who held their yesterdays
break ON the theory of substantial re-
action to-day. The market failing to
Justify their confidence they became dis
ming beyond early calculations and condi-
Jtions in general are anything but favora-
bic. The market closed quiet and steady
at a net gain of 1d4 points
r.. b. OUTHBERT & CO.'S. LETTER.
New York, Feb. 9.--(Special)- Cotton
was quieter today and showed little raj
lying power from yesterdays weakness
and sharp decline in prices. The open
ing was firm ait an advance of points,
but before the end of the first hours bus
mess, the market relapsed into extreme
dullness and resumed a sagging tenden-
cy, finally closing quiet at an advance OF
1d2 points from yesterdays closing
prices The total sales were 110,5OO
bales, against 235, 400 bales yesterday.
The action of the market was a great
disappointment to the bulls, who ex-
! pected good stiff rally and active out
side buying They based their calcula-
/ tions however, entirely upon their old
! mistaken theory, that the statistical POI
sition of cotton was strong. But q s IN the
past, they ignored the speculative condl-
tions surrounding the market and also
the poor condition of trade at Manches-
ter and on the continent and in dry
goods centres generally throughout this
country, also the fact that the European
political troubles are likely to further
unSettle business abroad, and that trade
among manufacturers in Canada is as
sluggish and improbable in dry goods
as it has been in the East, and also that
i notwithstanding the continued predic-
tions of a perpendicular drop in the re-
ceipts and exhaustion of supplies, the
1 movement continues liberal, with the
| port receipts running about 5000 to
5000 bales thus far for the week over
last week Reliable adYices from Mon
tread to-day report trade conditions there
so unfavorab5e that manufacturers are
seriously discussing shutting down their
mills for three months ON a similar short
time schedule as the Fall River manufae-
! turers adopted, their stock in hand being
sufficiently large to make this action
necessary in the present dullness.
WHEAT.
Wheat showed strength to-day not-
withstanding continued apathetic foreign
markets and limited outside speculation
and freer receipts. On these factors
prices opened easy at II decline, at 76A
for May in Chicago. All the offerings,
however, were readily taken by the larg-
er interests at Chicago and the market
moved up slowly, but steadily 1A cents
izfrom the opening to 771a and finally clos
led steady at TN. Bradstreet's visible
showed a decrease Of 1891 900 bushels
/ in the stock of wheat in this country
East of the Rocky Mountains, and a de-
crease in the worlds available supply
of $4,000 bushels. This was much less
than had been expected, but only had a
temporary effect, as it was offset by a
continued good demand for flour in the
northwest, with bullish advices in re-
gard to the stock OF wheat at the prinei-
pai primary points.
STOCKS.
The stock market continued dull and
very irregular and unsettled to-day, un-
der the depressing influence of unfaVora-
bic foreign advices, with panicky mar
kets at Paris and st. Petersburg ON the
unsettled affairs surrounding Egypt. The
bears used these adyices as a pretext for
| further depressing the market in the
hope Of producing liquidation from out
side sources. They we've successful TO
a certain degree in the industrials, but the
Liquidation in the general railroad list
was on the whole slight. There was not
| much support forthcoming i'm the gram
gers or the international list, but at the
! same time, the absence of any material
| selling pressure from holders of these
| stocks led the bears to confine their at
tent1pn to the industrials, or trust stocks,
in which the selling pressure was heavy
| and they found out the position more
| vulnerable to their attacks. Although
| the State investigation committee had
| adjourned until next Saturday, still the
| theory that these Investigations, which
are also threatened elsewhere win de-
| velop unfavorable features even If the
1 scrutiny Of the so-called trusts fail to
to develop new facts or fresh Legislation
restricted buying into them, and they
| yielded / to 2 per cent and closed heavy
at the decline. American Tobacco and
Rubber were especially weak with sugar,
and closed at about the lowest. The de-
clines in the railroad list We're only frac-
tionai The general sentiment was mixed
on the general situation, and the market
closed irregular and heavy i'm tone.
NEW YORh.
NEW YORK. February 9.--Futnres opened
| firm: sales $500 bales.
| Futures closed quiet and steady: sales no.
800 bales.
Opening. CLOSING
| Fenr11ary. ......,............ 6S3 68s
| March. h..........t..............' % 6l
| ApriI ....... -. :. ...... 6 g6 694
| Nav ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Z 05 70i
| June e..............,.,.......... Z 90 706
l