The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-02
COTTON LETTERS

| NEW ORLEANS. Feb. 1.-Good weather, disposition of Liverpool to trade and expectation of bearish week. end figures inclined a large part of the trade to the selling side during the early trading and values slipped some ] under pressure from this element. l Talk of a private bureau issuing a bearish forecast on January consump- tion in near future was an influencing factor in some of the selling. Hester's i figures on mill takings, however, proved much larger than expected, and these, together with the large exports, again brought to the front the acute ness of the supply situation. Added to these were reports of good spot demand here and at many interior points, with rumors that some large firms have , given their agents orders to buy regard i less of price and report of the sale , of 10000 bales from Liverpool stock to Russia. Later cables predicted large , export demand to the continent and re- ported some large sales pending. These influences stimulated enough buying and covering to give the market a good rally around the middle of the session, but the bulges attracted selling and values slipped again in the last few minutes. Advices from abroad indicate that Germany and Russia are prepar- ing for a revival in trade and that our limited stocks will be drawn on heav- lily by these countries in the near fu- ture/ We believe, therefore, that the buying side offers the best opportuni- ties.AFenner & Beane to Kahn Bros. & Virgin.
 NEW YORK, Feb. f.-Cables this morning were not quite as expected. owing to the improvement in sterling exchange, which naturally tends to mar row the spread between Liverpool and New York. Here the market was steady through most of the day. all though there was no great increase in the volume of business. Reports from the dry goods district were rather more optimistic, as there seems to be de- cidedly more interest displayed. aI- though the volume of business has not materially increased. The spinners' talk ings for the week were some 30 O00 bales larger than the correspondine week last year, while exports totaled 7!,000 bales today. Of course, the end or the month has somewhat to do with these large figures. Nevertheless. they are not without significance in view of the available supply this January, as compared with January, 1923, the local sentiment is still against the market
 owing largely to the lack of outside demand: We cannot but feel that the underlying situation with cotton going into goods at any such rate as sbove IS very strong and we do not believe that sales will prove profitable. Indeed the effect of the new crop will nrove
 put sentimental unless there is an i'm mediate and drastic curtailment fin the consumption of American cotton.
 Liverpool futures are due tomorrov
 March. 1s.4oc; May, 19.32c.-Hubbsrd Bros. 6 Co.
 NEW YORK, Feb. 1.-The early mar. ket was easier, reflecting rather disan- pointing cables and slightly easter technical position, but as the session progressed prices turned firmer on in creasingly bullish spot advices with heavy exports and bullish figures for the week. The opinion is expressed that the market is in the initial stages Of secondary advance, during which it may easily reach higher levels than In the primary advance as the situa- tion tightens in both the goods markets and those for raw material. For the moment 1t Is perhaps hardly wise to follow advances, which are likely to go only as far as forced by covering by weaker scattered shorts and may disappear when demand from that source slackens, but some one of these starts is going to prove the real thing and go further than expected. As only those who have had the courage to ! buy in weak markets will be in a posi- | tion to benefit by that, and there is so little on which to base an expecta- tion of a protracted decline, the con- structive side in easy periods looks de- cidedly the best.-Post & Flagg to l shannon & Co.