The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-03-07
Over Private Wires
Over s. R. Stewart & Co.'s Wire

New Orleans, March 6.--Liverpool showed as much as 25 points advance or near months, against only on new crops, reflecting prevailing opinion that the contract change will find its strong est expression in near positions, owing to scarcity of better grade supply, while prospects of a larger supply of good grades in the new season tends toward relative easiness in new crops. On pres- ent conditions, tendency in the mar ket should be towards a narrower differ ence between old and new crops in old style contracts. but a wider difference between the two crops in the new style contracts
 The markets will have to get accus- toned to the task of distinguishing and trading in two contracts and it will take sometime for trading to develop the for mer regular flow. At the opening this morning there were no trades in March May opened 10 to 20 down on old con- tracts, but 120 higher on the new. July opened about unchanged on the old, no trade in new. October opened about 15 up on old and 150 over on new style, but the difference was soon reduced to 100 points. f First of all, the trade tried to find the proper difference between old and new contracts. After that the market will again move on influences establishing a general range of values.
 Weekly statistics tomorrow promise brllish; large exports, and probably also larger mill takings.
 The weather map shows fair in Texas freezing to south Texas; cloudy rest of the belt with general rains in the cen- tral and eastern belt. Indications are for change to unsettled, rainy and warmer weather in the west with another rain disturbance coming on the belt
 After much nervousness trading finally settled around Mondays closing values for old style contracts, and 40 to 70 points higher range for new contracts.
 After all, the fundamental facts before the traders. first the great depletion in the worlds reserve of goods and conse- quent great immediate needs, the steady development in shipping and commercial exchange of goods and raw material and the outlook for limited production of cotton. On this broad basis the right seems clearly towards tendency toward higher values for cotton.
 There was considerable activity in the new May and October contracts in the New Orleans market, which carried them over a range of 100 to 1B points during the day. The close was 45 to 110 points below the first records made in the new contracts.
 The old contracts ranged within 50 points closing at near the high point of the day except the October option, which lOst 25 points from opening quotations.
 Spots in New Orleans are quoted at 26c for middling and 26.10c in New York.
 IT. analyzing the action of the two con- tracts today we find that the new con tracts opened 120 to 15O points above the old style and narrowed to difference of 45 to 60 points on the close. The con- cit sion being that the old short contracts are going into the new and old long contracts are being held.
 Spot markets are from 25 to 5 points lower throughout the south.
 With the opening of the exchange this morning the new style contract showed ar Improvement of about one cent over the old and with transferring of such contracts into the new by spot firms. these differences narrowed about 90 points. Outside of the switching from olc to new, there was little other fea turc to the trading. The opinion has been freely expressed by spot firms that old contracts will eventually sell above the new if the holders of long of May and July decide to take up the cotton. Shorts in these positions are likely to find themselves in rather tight posi- tion. This remains to be seen, and it is eLerally believed there is large amount of low grade cotton in the south that will have to find an outlet and there being little prospect of this cotton going to central Europe for sometime to come lit may be possible for shorts to buy this