The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-25
COTTON MARKET
 KEENLY ACTIVE
Closes Week With Net Gain of Nearly $1 a
 Bale

New Orleans. December 24.-while a great deal of liquidation was done Tn the cotton market this week hy bulls who wanted to realize their profits and the offering. Tor time worked against values. the market closed at a net gain of nearly s1 bale on the most active months, Investment buying met the market on all recession and gave 1t steady undertone As has been the case for sometime the export move ment was the main supporting in- fluence. Foreign clearances for the week up to Thursday night were 2e2.- 664 bales
 Some bearish comment was caused lay the large stock held in this port. S2AS21 bales tonight. but it was
 claimed by the bulls that much of this
 cotton Is not for sale, but Is owned
 by spinners and spot merchants abroad
 and is being held in storage here await
 ing favorable opportunities for ship
 ment. This claim was partly confirmed by spot brokers who stated that it was difficult to buy cotton from local fac tors except at high prices
 The short week restricted trading
 and 1t Is probable that next week the market will not be active, since it will again close Thursday night End Of December shipments may play an im-
 portant part in the four days of trad ing, as the long side has made repeated claims that they will be exceptionally heavy If shipments are large, prices probably will be bullishly affected. but l If they are not up to expectations val ues may be depressed. Bearish traders are inclined to the opinion that the | spot demand has been so heavy of late | and clearances 80 large that December l engagements have been fairly we'll l filled and that a falling off in both the demand and the movement from the ports may be looked for. This conflict or opinion may keep the future ring a | little moro active than might be ex-
 pected in the holiday period.
 New York, December 24.-Cotton has | been more active during the past week. with prices advancing on a broadenins z | trade and investment demand Houses
 with foreign connections have been
 among the more persisten buyers, and 1 1t Is rumored that German interests have been particularly active taking July and october contracts, as we'll as
 large quantities of spot cotton in the l south.
 Only three or four steamers gre so | far reported to have actually cleared l Tor Bremen, but in spite of the sensa- | tfonally high ocean freight rate of l about $1b per bale. several additis nal | steamers have been chartered for late | December or January sailings to thai port. and Germany is believed co be | taking part of the cotton consigned | to neutral ports. Additional supplies
 1t Is reported. are being stored at the l ports or larger interior towns, await
 ing more satisfactory shipping condi. tons, and some of the consigned cot
 ton arriving at New York Is believed
 to be for German account rather thar | Tor delivery on contract.
 l The advance was checked by rcaliz- l ing and increased southern selling with | the approach of the holidays, but re- i actions We're comparatively moderate
 and the talk around the ring has quit, generally reflected more optimisti, sentiment. Such items as the activ. ity of exporters, the railroad rate de cfsion, the increasing business reported In the dry go0ds trade, prospects for
 material reduction in the acreage nex spring and the failure of the biz gov. ernment crop estimate to cause any | overwhelming pressure from the soutl,
 have figured in the more bullish argu ments and local commission house,
 have reported a better supply of or ders than at any time previously tinc, the reopening of the market.
 The census report issued on Monda,
 showed 13.977,1s9 bales ginned to De cember 13, this year, against 13,770.72 in the big crop year of 1911, but tn,
 amount ginned for the first half O December fell short of the big crol