The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-22
FIRST BIG DECLINE
HITS THE BULLS OF THE COTTON
MARKET HEAVILY.
COTTON OFF MANY POINTS.
NEW YORK FOLLOWED LIVER
POOLS SWIFT DESCENT.

Good weather and Large Port Re-
ceipts Conspired with LiverpOOPs
instability to Put the Bulls 10
FIight-There Was n Rush to Re-
aIize While Prices Were still
High-At the Close July Showed
Loss of Over $3.50 Bale for
the One Day-SaIes 1,OOO,OOO Bales.
New York, May 21.-It was a BADLY
mixed" crowd that surrounded the To-
cal pit in the Cotton Exchange to-day.
In the first place the Liverpool ca
bles were almost as sensationally weak
as they had recently been strong, and,
though just before che local opening
they showed some irregularity, they
were still from 10 to u points below ex-
pectations. In addition to this, the
weather map again reflected favorable
conditions, and early estimates indi-
Gated that port receipts for the day
would once more greatly exceed last
year.
These factors naturally exerted a
bearish influence on general sentiment,
but on the other hand the strongly ag-
gressive tactics of the latest bull lead
er has rendered the average operator
fearful of further sensational shows of
strength, so that at the opening there
seemed a disposition to let the big men
of either side set the pace and estap-
lish the initial range of prices.
Opening Was Active.
Still there was enough business to
make the opening an active one, while
the speculative atmosphere was still
full of excitement and uncertainty. At
| the start the bears had all the best of
1T, first prices being 11@29 points low
er, with July selling on the call at
1O.99c, August at 10.73c and September
at 9.70c; following this after some ir-
regularity there was a sharp rally I'M
der bull support.
The betterment was comparatively
slight, however, and chiefly in the
late months, with near price positions
f1uctuating in nervous and uncer-
tain fashion. At this time the market
was comparatively quiet, but the clos
ing cables from Liverpool indicated an
utterly demoraliZed condition there,
the near months closing at a decline of
1y1s@22 points, and this brought about
such a rush of realizing in the local
market as has seldom, if ever, been
witnessed. In five or ten minutes July
sold from 11.10c, the best of the morn
ing, to 10.S0c, loss since last night of
A points; August sold from 10.S1c to
1O.62c and September from 9.92c to
| 9.75c.
Then came a pause, and the market
moved uncertainty; slight recoveries
being followed by equally slight re-
actions, with prices generally ruling
within two or three points of the bot
| tom.
Found Factions Resting.
Midday found the opposing factions
resting after the tumult of the morn
| ing, but prices while net $685. points
lower showed a recovery of 9Q11 points
from the bottom, thus indicating that
neither side had yet abandoned its po-
| sition.
During the afternoon speculation
was much less active, but trade senti-
ment continued very nervous and I'M
settled, the bulls showing less DISPOSE
ton to support the market. There was
| continued realizing and bear pressure
in anticipation that Liverpool would
show less weakness tomorrow and on
estimates for heavy receipts.
| Under the selling the market devel-
oped a gradually declining tendency,
which gathered force toward the close,
and prices were forced down to new
low lever for the day, closing easy at
a net loss of from q to So points. July,
closing at 10.70c, showed a loss of over
| $3.50 bale, as compared with last
nights close. May closed at 11.60c, Au-
gust at 1O.47c, and September at 9.65c.
Total sales of futures were estimated
| at 900 600 bales