The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-06-30
WOOL MARKET
LESS ACTIVE
CONFIDENCE PREVAILS AND
PRICES ARE FIRM.
new CLIP MJvES SLOWLY
Little Competition Between Buyers at
Interior Points and Staple
Is PiIing Up.
new CLIP MJvES SLOWLY

Sales of wool for the week on the
Boston market aggregated 2,477,O00
pounds. This included 100000 pounds
OF territory, which sold at from Is
to 10 cents.
The wool market is not yet active,
but at the same time a confident feel
ing prevails in the trade, and prices
are firmly held, says the American
Wool and Cotton Reporter.
A Waiting Game.
To a considerable extent it is a
waiting game. The eastern merchants,
who have operated to any great ex-
tent in the interior, have paid higher
prices for the new woods than the
selling prices for the old woods would
seem to warrant. They have been
led to do this by the strong statistical
position of wool, indications OF still
further advances abroad and the stltt
attitude of holders in the interior.
Having purchased these woods at rela-
lively higher prices than old woods
have been selling for, it is to their
interest, of course, to secure an ad-
vance in the price of wool at the
seaboard if they are to do business
at any profit. Their asking prices,
therefore. as far as new woods are
concerned, have been raised, but they
have not been able to sell freely. Such
sales of new wool as have been made
To consumers comprise certain OF the
cheaper lines which they were able
to secure in some instances at the
opening of the season. n ulk OF
the clip purchased thus far cannot
it is claimed, be sold to manufacturers
on today's market at any profit. Som
houses are able to sell cheaper tina
others, according to how much less
they paid for their new woods tina
their competitors.
Quotations Are Irregular.
Quotations, therefore, on a number
of grades are irregular. Medium
woods, for instance, are quoted by
| some houses a cent per pound higher
than by certain others. On many
varieties of wool quotations are nomi-
nal. as the old stock has been pretty
thoroughly cleaned up and the new
woods have not yet come upon this
market; or, if they have come upon
the market, there has not been sufi-
cient business doing in them to es-
tablish quotations. 1t is quite posi-
BILE that some holders of high cost
wool nay consider current quotations
as reported in these columns as too
low, but the prices given by us are
based on actual transactions, as far
as possible-not on the figures given
by those who are holding their stock
at quotations higher than the market
has yet attained. Manufacturers have
not yet paid the high prices quoted by
| SOIu0 1OuSCS LII tuCSAAA0 eAU sAANJ
will not do so. Whether they will OF
not, remains for the course of events
to determine; but until they do, q
truthful statement of the actual price
situation would not justify the publ
cation of high quotations given as the
actual selling prices of wool.
Manufacturers Go Slow.
Manufacturers are looking forward
hopefully to the opening OF the light
weight season, but they do not as We
know enough of the character ant
trend of the demand for goods to war
rant their laying in large lines of wool
If the goods market is to open practi
cally on the same basis as last year
they declare that they cannot SCI
their way clear to pay the exalted
prices quoted by some holders of thu
new woods. One thing would seen
clear: if the goods market does no
advance, either the manufacturer o
the wool dealer bids fair to take
loss on the seasons business. TIL
manufacturer declares that he viii
buy very carefully and c~onservatively
t and only to supply actual needs. TIL
wool merchant, on the other hand, l
= prepared to hold his wool for months