The Cairo bulletin., 1904-08-22
CLEWS ON
THE MARKETS
JUMP I'M WHEAT AND CROP RE.
PORTS HAS CONSIDERABLE
EFFECT - GENERAL OUT
LOOK is GOOD.

Special to The Bulletin.
New York, Aug 20, 1904.-Specula
tion for the rise was somewhat con
fused by the sharp advance in wheat
by the unsettled condition of the stee
trade and by the further decline ii
crop conditions. The movement il
wheat, of course, has its origin In tht
shortage of the worlds crop and the
falling off in the yield of the United
States. The advance, however, ap
pears to have been unduly stimulated
by public buying; and a sharp reac
ton may occur when least suspected
AS for the break in steel wire pro
ducts, it Is impossible to tell at this
writing how far reaching that steE
may be- The cut of about $500 a
ton appears to have been in retalia
tion against the Pittsburg Steel and
Republic Iron ana Steel conversion
deal, and bears all the indications of
a serious trade war Should the cut
extend to other branches of the steel
industry the effect will of course be
detrimental, not only to the steel in,
dustry but to constructive enterprise
in general which will naturally be de-
ferred until more settled conditions
prevail However, it is premature to
calculate upon the action of the steel
magnates in this early stage of the
contest.
Outlook Good for Farmers.
Concerning the crops. August. as
usual, is proving month of recession
in most respects. Cotton and wheat
have noticeably declined during Au-
gust and while this is not likely to
change the estimate of q 12,OO0,0 900
bale cotton crop 1t has seriously of
fected the wheat harvest though
some conservative authorities are still
figuring on 575,000,0 ,000.bushel crop.
Corn has thus far escaped injury,
and is in promising condition, except
that the crop Is generally two weeks
late and is especially exposed to in
| jury from frost. For corn the esti-
mate is still 2,500.0O000O bushels.
What the effect would be upon the
stock market, and general business
also. of damaging frost to this import
and crop no one can venture to pre-
dict, Suffice it to say that a large
corn crop Is the mainstay of present
hopefulnesS and failure to realize
these expectations would certainly
exert depressing influence through.
out the country. Such contingency
may not happen; but 1t is sufficiently
near the range of possibility to en-
force caution In stock market opera.
tions, at least until the danger per.
iod is more nearly passed. AS for
the other important crops they are
all proving satisfactory and the out
look remains, as in previous advices,
favorable to profitable season for
farmers and planters in nearly all
sections of the country.
Stock Handlers Optimistic.
Aside from the unsettling conLi-
tions just mentioned the outlook re-
mains favorable TO good, active
market. Stocks continue to be held
in strong hands and their owners.
who have exceptional sources of in
formation. are still in an optimistic
frame of mind. In spite of the recent
trade reaction, railroad earnings on
the principal roads in July showed
loss of only about per cent in gross,
while the loss in net earnings was
probably even less than this owing
to the curtailment of expenses. This
is satisfactory result when Il is re.
membered that the comparison Is
with a record year. Bank clearings.
too, are showing a very slight fall
ing off, and when the shrinkage in
values and speculation is taken into
consideration it is evident that the
contraction in the volume of legiti-
mate business has not been as large
as supposed. Wall street is always
in its most buoyant mood when spec.
ulation is rampant. and. like all emo
tional constitutions, IL Is correspond
ingly depressed when food for excite
ment is Withheld. For many months
Wall street has been the most de-
iected spot in the United States, but
at that time IL no more represented
the real state of affairs in the coun-
try than ii did in the palmy days of
the 1901 boom. Since then the Street
has recovered its equilibrium. and to-
day IL may be said to fairly represent
national conditions. and, IL anything,
Is discounting a business improve
ment which may reasonably be antic-
ipated before the close Of 1901. a.
suming we escape injury to the corn
crop.
Money Unusually Easy.
The money market is unusually
easy for this period Of the year and
no anxiety is shown over either crop
demands or possible gold exports.
Bank reserves are so high lover sG3.-
900 .oOal and loanable funds 80 abnn-
daRt that the ordinary periodical
movements Of currency excite no in
terest whatever. Some operators
have come 10 hook upon gold exports
as desirable even at this period Of
the year. on the ground that London |