The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-02-17
BUYERS AND SELLERS CONTINUE
TO BE APART.
NO LARGE STOCKS ON HAND
Weeks Wool Mar.et Reviewed.
Holders of Opinion That Situa-
ton Is in Their Favor.

The weeks sale of wool on the Bos
ton market aggregated 1892, 900
pounds. Of this 1,1Sa.OOO pounds was
territory, which sold at from IA to 2(
cents.
The market continues quiet. Some
houses report a fair business, but the
demand is not at all active, and nc
very large lines have been moved the
past week, says the American Wool
and Cotton Reporter. The large mills
have been represented in the market
to some extent, including a Philadel-
phia concern, but the bulk Of the buy.
ing has been by medium or smaller
| sized e
The large consumers are carefully
and keeping in closa touch with it
Once in a while a customer m in
who needs some particular thing and
is willing to pay the going price for
it. But there is no disposition on the
part of the consumer to anticipate his
wants to any great extent, until the
goods season has progressed farther
than it has yet. a number of the
large concerns do pot find it neces-
sary to buy and cannot be induced to
buy except at concessions, which
holders of wool are not yet ready to
grant. Some of the latter, especially
those handling secured woods, feeces
and Texas woods, could have moved
more stuff if they had been disposed
to make a slight concession in asking
prices. -.re,-
Increased Conservatism.
The easier tone at the close of the
London sales, the advices received
since then to the effect that woods
have been sold at prices in buyers
favor, and also the slowness of the
goods market in responding to the adj
vance in wool the past year do not Of
course tend to impart any strength
to the wool market here although our
wool prices are still below the point
at which foreign stock can be
landed to any advantage. The i'm
proved pastoral conditions in Austria
lit and the cessation of the advanc-
ing tendency in South America,
where, according to some advices
ordinarily considered trustworthy,
prices have receded slightly from the
highest level reached, have naturally
given rise to an increased degree of
conservatism and a belief on the part
of some that while prices may posi-
bly, harden somewhat more, there
cannot be much more of an advance
in the price of wool. At any rate a
good many consumers look at the sit
uation in this way and have refrained
from purchasing any wool and stoutly
maintain that they will not pur-
chase any more wool until their
stocks are decidedly lower than they
are now. Whether they are justified
in taking this position is a matter for
the actual course of events to deter
mine, but that this view of the situa-
ton is partly responsible at least for
the limited amount of business in the
wool market is certain.
Views of Holders of Wool.
The holder of wool, on the other
hand, considers the situation as es-
sentially a very strong one. h
stocks of wool are decreasing, selec-
tons in some instances being cleaned
up. The mills are running full and
indications are that generally they
will continue to run full, and, with a
normal business in progress in the
mills, there can certainly, they claim,
be no surplus left over from the next
clip, and it is maintained that impor-
tations must be larger in order to sup
ply the demands of consumers. How
the price of wool can weaken, there
fore, they are at a loss to see.
No Concessions as Vet.
AS yet no concessions have been
made in the price of wool, and the
transactions which have been put
through have been mostly at top quo
tations. On some lines buyers and
sellers are apart, but the latter have
not as yet weakened. One reason for
this is that they are so lightly
stocked that they feel Independent,
and see no occasion for forcing bust
ness by offering any special induce
ments for consumers to buy. A good
deal of course depends upon the
-