The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-11-25
Operators Nervous on Account
of Bull Rumors, Hasten
to Cover.
WHEAT is VERY UNSETTLED I
European Buyers Have Contract
ed for Large Shipments Of
Graill--Corn Quiet.

Grai,l--Corn Quiet.
NEW YORK, November 24.--Last
week was a rather exciting one In the
cotton market, especially the last few
days. when there has been enormous
trading and violent jump in prices.
This has heen due to the stanipeding
of the heavy saort interest, which had
heen-> created by Wall Street and OUT
side operators, who had been attracted
to the cotton market on tho theory
that 1t afforded an excellent oppor-
.tunity for getting rich quick by plung-
ing heavily on the selling side, with
the view of covering the cotton at a
much lower range Of prices It appears
that "a. short interest among this class
of operators alone was built ZIP ap-
proximating between 100000 and AGO.
900 bales. They had good profit In
this cotton from the recent decline of
10 1-2 to 10 ia cents when the market
broke to the basis of 10 to 10 Ia cents
for the general option list towards
the close Of last week. Instead OF TAX
Ing 1t. their anxiety to wipe out the
bull pool led them to Increase their
short interest to such an extent in their
operations for stu further decline
that their operation becnmc unwicldy.
Buying to Cover Contracts.
When the market began to gradually
harden on Tuesday and Wednesday, on
covering of shorts by other large pro-
operators, the crowd OF shorts
began to get nervous. 1t was not until
some time after the publication of the.
Census Bureaus ginners' report Thurs
day morning that the bear clique lost
IT, o,-Hr rf 80 arS,Y RI
character that n large operator had
suddenly turned to the bull side, and
that number of comparatively short
crop estimates were to be launched,
resulted in the ordering of
this huge line of cotton to be bought
back .'at the market" This was an
way of covering such a
big interest in such a narrow market,
and 1t was only natural that furry
resulted.
The advance in the market carried
prices so to so points. with the general
list making maximum rise 10 that
extent as compared with the closing
prices of last Saturday. December went
to 1891. while January advanced to-
1868, March to 1914. May to 1880 and
July to 1886. These prices represent
a total recovery of about 1 cent per
pound from the low level for the season
esta blished about six weeks ago. andi
Of about l "a to 2 cents per pound
market was being bulled so aggres-
sively by Southern operators towards
the last of August
Effect OF the Exchange Ruling.
The action Of the revision commit
tee of the New York Cotton Exchange
In failing to make any changes In
the differences OF prices for the diff
ferent grades Of cotton, either above or
below the basis OF middling. has been
much commented on in the trade. 1t
was expected that. in view of the much
higher quality of the staple in this
years crop, a reduction of is to Ia
cent per pound would be male Cor the
high grades, and 1t was also thought
LIS cent would be made in the extreme
low grades.
New Crop Estimates.
The Census Bureaus report on thet
amount of cotton ginned to NovemberI
18th of this seasons crop, as off,
cially announced Thursday morning,
of 7,311,202 bales of the commercialS
size. is generally regarded as confirm
ing the past months tendency to re-
duce crop estimates to the basis OIL
11.50o,OO0 to l1.750,O0O bales. AS a
consequence. a larger number Of esti-
mates Of such character are expected
during the course of the next two
weeks, which is the time intervening
for the publication of the annual es-
innate on the size OF the crop byI
the United States Department of Agri-
culture. This report is due on Decem-
Der 10th. and is merely q preliminary
estimate based upon the returns re-
ceived by the department In regard to
the estimated yield per acre.
Grain Market.
Domestic wheat markets were very
unsettled in the first half of last
week, with price changes numerous.
For short time there was a tendency
to higher levels. which was soon fo-I
lowed. however. by heavy break. The
more encouraging cables We're in good
part responsible for the early steadi-
ness. markets in Europe. and particu
larly In the United Kingdom. being
influenced by the small worlds ship-I
ments and the resultant large reduc-
ton in tho quantity on passage. The
principal domestic factors for steadi-
ness We're the large decrease in the
visible supply and the more optimistic
feeling In the financial world.
It was thought that the arrival OF
gold from Europe would expedite the
Of wheat and flour. The
total quantity Of wheat afloat has been
far below the estimated consumptive
In importing countries,
and hence the reports OF the worlds
available supply show a further big
namely. 2,66S000 bushels, a
sharp contrast to the decrease Of GEO.
900 bushels a year ago.