Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1897-10-21
SPECIA MARKET LETTER

The following market letter Is fur
nished us by MCLAIN Bros. Il Co.,
Commission Merchants, Rialto Build
ing, Chicago;
Unreasonable weather at the west
and northwest, and the continuance OF
the yellow fever at the south with un-
abated virulence, has curtailed general
business throughout these sections of
the country and nOticeably decreased
the volume of bank clearings. The in
flux OF foreign gold, and material de
cline i'm the value of stocks have en-.
abled the New York banks to increase
their reserves without greatly decreas-
ing the volume of their loans.
The continued efforts of England to
prevent its gold from seeking Ameri
cas- shores still tends to keep its pur
thaSes of our products at minimum
quantities, and i'm order To render the
movement of the yellow metal as I'M
profitable AS possible the Bank of Eng
land has raised its discount rate. This
eXpedient, while ii is not "A preventive.
acts as retarding influence and may
for time prevent more liberal pur-
chases of Our grain There are indica-
tons, however, that the United King
dom will soon begin in earnest despite
all efforts to check it. Continental
Europe. which bought literally earlier
IN the season. II again III he market.
and although IL Is better prepared IT,
delay purchases than is the United
Kingdom. evidently believes that moth
ing is to be gained by procrastinatiOn
II is explained that the rather free
marketing of homegrown wheat in
France is due to the fear of removal
of import duties by that country be
cause Of It's known crop deficiency.
Late advces from Russia confirm pre-
vious claims of alarming crop shortages.
and the statement that the government
| contemplates the prohibition of wheat
| exports is reiterated.
The most important recent informa-
ton impaired 10y our department OF
| agriculture is al estimate by the Hun
| garian Minister of Agriculture of the
| requirements of the importing cOun-
| tries of the world and the eXportable
| SURPRISES of the exporting countries
| from the last crop, with comparisons of
| the requirements and supplies of the
| previous year. The report shows that
| for the crop year ending 1896 the i'm
| porting countries required l30. 543 900
| bu more than the exporting countries
could furnish. and that for the present
| year they will require POP 800 600 bu
more than this year S crops can furnish
| The significance of these figures lies in
| the fact that in order to supply the de-
| ficiency of last year it was nee essary to
consume nearly AL the accumulated re
| serves, which at the beginning of that
year were large. and that the world is
now facing "A much larger delic ency,
4. Z.
| year at the minimum. This great de-
| ticency is sufficient to account for the
steady foreign buying on large scale
and suggests that in the event Of Rus
STA S ceasing to furnish Western Europe
with further supplies that America can
! dictate its own terms before the end of
| HE season.
| Crop conditions at home are also at
tracing attention and may soon be AS
important factors in influencing the
market as the foreign demand. The
destructive drouth, which has been but
| partially broken, has decreased the
acreage and left the growing wheat in
| poor condition to withstand the vicissi-
tndes of a winter and spring. So great
I III area Is in need of copious rains that
Unless relief is soon afforded the mar
<et will respond to the unfavorabe
conditions. Receipts at the northwest
IRE diminishing, and it is claimed will
con become moderate in volume, coun-
ry elevators holding but light stocks
rom which to ship when farmers re-
eipts abate.
Speculalively our market is nervous
md erratic operators generally fear NC
he result of supply and demand rcia-
| ions and the meagernesS of contract
| tockS. Bears are wary OF the Deccm-
Der future and confine their operations
10 the May option, hoping that SOUTH
I'm hemisphere crops may be abundant
nough To relieve the tension i'm the
Early spring. Bulls are confident in
the belief that necessity will compel
foreigners to bid still higher for our
wheat and view any moderate reaction
with cOmplacency.
Our corn market has been subject, d
10 the pressure of heavy speculative
offerings and of fairly liberal receipts
which, coming on market already
oversupplied, proved burdensome. The
break has undoubtedly relieved the
market of il heavy speculative load and
LETT 1t IN shape to encourage an inn
| proved cOnsumptive demand. which in
time Will reduce stocks to IA point whore
crop conditions will begin to assert
themselves. At present the chief sup
port will probably come from It's specu-
lative sympathy with wheat
The visible supply of grain in the
United States and Canada shows the
following changes Tor the past week
Wheat increased |, 1876. 900 bu, corn i'm
creased 2. 1913. 600 bu and oats increased
| ]. 400 900 bIl.