Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-23
NEW ORLEANS.

NEW ORLEANS, La, October 22.-Spot
cotton quiet. 1-16 lower. Middling, IA o-16.
Sales on the spot, $50 bales; to arrive,
500. Futures opened steady at a decline
of :; to ) points on poor cables and In
sympathy with lower tendency in New
York. The weather map was very I'M
favorable. showing light to heavy frosts
nearly everywhere in the western and
central sections of the cotton belt and
this prevented any very general selling.
at the same time one seemed disposed
to offer the market much support in view
of the bearish pressure in ev1dene.
After the call the demand strengthened
somewhat, due to the receipt of many
kilograms from the interior telling o. the
damage done by the cold wave. Selling
increased again toward the middle of the
morning and the market Immediately gave
way. Gossip of the floor was to the
effect that. disheartened longs. afraid to
carry their cotton over Sunday, in spite
of the probability of frost in the Atlantic
states. were letting go, and that bear in
tereSts were hammering again
Detailed reports from the weather bu-
reau showed that frosts were more severe
in Mississippi, Louis lana and Arkansas
than at first thought. and that. predic-
tiOnS o. yesterday to the contrary, all
three states had suffered heavy to killing
frosts, in addition to large areas OF light
frost. The market paid no attention to
this information. but fell off to new low
levels for the session. where the trading
months were - to u points under yes
terday's final prices.
The close was barely steady. at a net
decline of IS to u points. Close: Oc-
tober, 14.1O; November, 1896; December,
HOP; January, 14.1O: March, 14.26; May,
14.37. and July, 14.44.
Cotton futures this week closed A to
81 points under last weeks close. The
record shows a gradual slump from the
opening on. The high prices were made
Monday when the trading positions We're
l to points under last weeks final bids;
the lowest prices were made Saturday,
when the market was .b3 to 80 points
under last week. From the high to the
low there was a range of As to 13 points
on the most active months.
The heavy pressure in evidence all the
week was plaineSt at the close when 1t
was evident that selling orders had been
thickly distributed around the ring with
the express purpose of causing weak
close, probably to influence Liverpool's
opening Monday. Some traders contend
ing that the bulk of the offerings came
from members of the bull clique, while
others said that they were from a newly
organized bear clique. The week closed
with opinions rather vague to the real
cause of the decline.
The market was aided early in the
week by the tropical storm, which did
more or less injury to cotton along the
Atlantic coast; later the cold wave was
the chief feature in the gossip, but it
although it probably did prevent the
sensational break that some traders
were working for.
Market circulars on the week end
made much of the cold wave and the
accompanying frost. Bears would not
admit that one cold snap would do
great damage, but the bulls claimed
that it has done enormous injury and
would result in cutting the crop very
short. Bullish crop estimates on the
week end were 100000 bales maxi
mum. The official reports from the
weather bureau indicated killing frost
in portions of Louisiana, Arkansas,
Mississippi. Oklahoma and Texas.
There were indications that more frost
would be seen over Sunday the cold
wave made its way across the cotton
belt That the cold did not have more
effect on the market was due entirely
to the success of the bears plans.
In the spot market prices lost tve-six-
teenths, middling closing at IA 5-16.
against 145s last week and 1875 this week
last year. Sales on the spot amounted to
4,275 bales. against 3,130 last week and
B. 100 this week last year. Sales to ar
rive totaled 5,S25 bales. against 12,37o
last week and $3.50 this week last year.