Omaha daily bee., 1917-02-02
CHICAGO GRAIN AND PROVISIONS.
Germany's Sea Warfare Move Causes Break
Of I5 Centa In WheAt.

Germany's Sea Warfare Move Causes Brosi
of 15 Cents In Wheat
Chicago, Feb BREAKS that were fore
seen To be inevitable today In the price Of
wheat turned out to be much worse than
had been generally looked for, but the
downward plunge Of the market was ended
Tar quicker than most traders were expect
ing Solely as the result Of Germany's
notice Of sea war without limit, wheat
values made an instantaneous sheer descent
Of 15A CENTS
Within twenty minutes, however. the
market had rebounded . cents, selling Of a
panic sort was over, and thereafter prices
kept inside of scent range, closing un-
settled. ~ @shc net lower. with May at
SlS3h 61-s3k, and July at 81. Al " CLAM
Extreme declines In corn, oats and provt-
sions were respectively 4Ac. 81 NC and 1925
but the final figures showed losses as COM
pared with yesterdays finish to have been
narrowed to the following: Corn, 2k 92xc;
oats, ~ 02&c. and provisions. 52h S5Sc
to t1.s7h.
Tension at the outset In the wheat pit ap-
peared to be Of q nerve-racking character
seldom. II ever equalled on Change In Chi
cago Every foot of standing room from
the top step down to. the center Of the
closely packed crowd was occupied, and
scores Of brokers were literally standing on
tip toes, eager to sell at the first clang Of
the gong. The strain Of the wait for the
signal proved too great to be altogether
withstood and Just before the bell sounded
one perspirins trader shrieked. Sell May
at 6s." In the bedlam that followed this
first offer the opening bell received not
the slightest attention. May wheat, In
which the chief interest conferred and which
had closed yesterday at S1.71 v 0L71k.
crashed down to f1.56 and there was no in
itial sale recorded higher than 3Ls3. Just 2
cents heInw he rliaat haf wi
heard.
Selling on tremendous scale continued
unabated in wheat for about five minutes.
but then the pressure began to slacken q
little and the market, though nuctuating
violently for the next quarter of an hour,
was less one-sided. General expectations
that the utmost decline would not greatly
exceed loo a bushel had proved wrong by
more than &c, but was now making itself
felt as steadying influence Further sta
bility resulted also from wholesale profit
taking by traders who Of late had been
plunging heavily on the bear side Of the
market. Another influence toward the
restoration Of comparative confidence was
the announcement that after having been
tied up over night the traffic in and out
Of New York harbor had been resumed.
In later dealings the nervousness OF the
wheat crowd was renewed by reports that
railway embargoes were spreading and by
Washington advices that a break In dip
lOmatic RELATIONS Win termany was not
unlikely. At no time during the session,
however, was there return of the demon
alization which characterized the opening,
when at the worst Of the collapse the mar
ket was down 3s&c bushel from the
maximum European war price here, $l.s6N
for May
Some idea Of the magnitude of the inter-
ests affected by today's violent setback in
prices may be gained from estimates cur
rent tonight that a single firm here has
sold short within the last few weeks
nearly 100000 bushels of wheat. Another
concern was said to have purchased alone
5000, 900 bushels today.
Corn and oats gave way and rallied in
line with wheat. The fact that neither Of
the coarse grains is exported to nearly as
great degree as breadstuffs prevented
such sensational action as was shown by
the more expensive cereal. Trading was
unusually active, but outside Of the first
half hour the changes in price were not ex-
traordinary.
Provisions shared In the general weak
ness, due to the prospect that ocean ship
ping was to be seriously hampered, by the
cline was in pork
Cash Prices-wheat: No. 3 red nominal:
No. 8 red, $1.63: No. . hard nominal; No. 3
hard, $1.si. Corn: No. yellow, ssk@
s7c; No. 4 yellow. ss0s5%c; No. white.
a@ssAc' Oats. Oats: No; white. SlASSssi
s1.00@l.27. Seeds: Timothy, $3.50@5.5o,
clover, $1200@17.5o. Provisions: PORT,
s2s.ss; lard. sl5.72; ribs, s14.ss; ribs. '14.ss
@i51s.
Butter--Unchanged receipts. 1913 tubs.
hrsts, 43c; ordinary frsts, 4o@42c; at mark,
cases included, 40@43c-
Potatoes-Unchanged; receipts, SO cars.
Poultry-Alive, unsettled; fowls, 1sc;
springs, ale: turkeys, 1sc.