The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-01-13
COTTON BROKERS IN PANIC
Opening Advance Succeeded bv
General Collapsed in Prices.
SMALL SPECTATORS WIPED OUT

Thousands OF Bales Thrown Upon tho
Market-Prices Thrown Down Seventy
five Points - Heavy Bidding Alone
Saved tho Market - Sales Estimated
at Over One Million Bnles.
New York City.-Twenty thousand
small spectators were wiped out by
the sudden slump in cotton, and many
brokers declare that it was the bull
clique which engineered the slump in
order to get rid of the little fellows
who had overbought the market. For
an hour there was a panic of the wild.
est description, while the market broke
eighty points, or $4 bale. If the bulls
had planned the break they did so at
a tremendous risk, for they lost control
of the market completely, and it was
not until big supporting orders were
put in at New Orleans that they were
able to stop the panic.
May and July cotton were selling at
about 14.25c., when the break started
selling from some quarter, causing the
market to ease off, and by points it
went down to near the fourteen. Then
came the rapid decline.
1t is estimated that there were at
least 100000 bales of cotton Of differ
ent options held subject to stop loss
orders, and they all semeed to come
on the market at once. Every broker
who held cotton for customers on the
twenty point stop order tried to sell
before something worse happened.
The market went down ten and
twenty points at a drop. Brokers
rushed to the pit and fought for places
in the inner ring, every broker shouting
| at the top Of his voice and fighting for
a chance to unload the cotton he had
been fighting to buy only a few min
utes before.
Within very few minutes the active
options dropped about seventy-fve
points. Then the bulls came to the
rescue and there was a rally. The mar
ket swung back almost as rapidly as
it had dropped. The market was hardly
] less wild, and there was almost as
much noise around the pit as when the
| market dropped. A recovery Of forty
| points was made on the sudden recOv-
cry. Then the market began to fall
again. After the partial recovery the
market ruled very irregular, with SEN
timent very unsettled and trading few
erishly active. The close was steady
net forty-on to ffty-three points
lower, with sales estimated at 1,500,-
900.
The slump served to wipe out nearly
all small speculative accounts. Since
| the upward movement in cotton began
many thousands Of young clerks and
other employees have deposited their
savings with brokers in order to get
rich quickly. Money has been drawn
| from savings banks by many to put
| into cotton, and the speculative mania
among employees seems to have been
| greater in the cotton market than 1t
! was in the stock market about year
ago. This, too, in face Of the fact that
| the heavy declines in stocks have
! ruined many men and many houses.
New Orleans, LA little clique OF
bears played havoc with the cotton
market, driving May cotton at one time
down seventy-fya points, or $3.75
bale. This was followed by slight
reaction, and net losses for the one day
| were from forty-nine to fifty-four
points. The loss for March was forty
nine points, or $3.50 bale.
| Thousands Of bales were thrown on
the market and prices dropped ten to
twenty points, while trades were being
negotiated. Brokers with twenty-point
holdings grew frantic in their efforts
to save their customers. and the scene.
became one Of the widest confusion.
This condition lasted for an hour.
| until the tremendous buying by bull
| leaders checked the decline.