Evening star., 1933-01-21
COMMODITY PRICES
ABOVE RECENT LOW
Markets Continue to Display
Uncertain Trend During
Week, However.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
CHICAGO. January 21.-That much
desired and frequently heralded general
advance In farm commodity prices
continues to fail Of fulfllment. A
major markets flrst run up one side
and then down the other side of the
price curve.
However. the result is a fair degree
OF stability at a level somewhat above
the recent lows. This underlying steadi-
ness, with the price trend apparently
upward If anything. Is drawing increas-
ing comment from market analysts.
iheir oaily market letters call attention
to the fact that the side Of decI;ns
oners few opportunities for specrlators
while above the present market the sky
Is the limit.
Grain Price Losses.
Wheat spent the present week m
oong the gains Of the week before
Tnere were seven consecutive sessions
OF declining values, terminating Thurs
day with an upturn. The price losses.
resulting from the weakened technical
posiuon that followed the upturn.
amounted to more than so per cent of
the recent 8k-cent gain. Corn and
oats followed wheat.
Hogs bobbed up to a market ton
around $3.40, the highest since last
november. with the market uncertain
around that level. Cattle were irregu-
lar as were sheep. Markets for dressed
meat, except pork, have been better of
iate and accounted for the firmer tone
In live stock prices.
Traders in all markets are deeply in
terested in the proposed domestic allot-
ment plan Of farm relief. The packing
INDUSTRY Is genuinely fearful of the ef-
fect that application of a processing
tax would have on the hog market. Il
was relieved during the week to hear
limitation Of the plan to cotton and
wheat during the period of Experiment
AS matter OF fact, the proponents of
the scheme do not favor its applica-
ton to hogs except under strict limita-
lions on marketing and production.
ihey definitely oppose the inclusion of
DAIRY products under the provisions of
the law.
The whole case for the allotment
plan rests upon failure of the tariff to
confer the usual benefits upon farm
products Of which there is an EXPORT
able surplus" said w. r. Ronald. one
OF tne committee sponsoring the plan.
without that basis upon which to
DuIo, l 40 not see how the professor
could protect himself on the payment
Of the tax without deductinp 1t from
the amount paid the producer.
Sees Tax as Bearish.
Ihe proponents Of this measure have
emphatically opposed the application
OF the plan to dairy products because
II Is wholly illogical and, SO far as we
can discover, practically impossible.
with regard to application of a pro-
cesSlng tax to wheat step that looms
IN view OF the President-elects interest,
one OF the most astute of private grain
market experts has the following to
say,
Should any legislation of this kind
be enacted, the first consequence would
PROBABLY be a bearish futures market
since farmers with the increased price
would rush wheat to market. The sec
ondary effect would probably be some.
what bullish If acreages were actually
reduced. We feel, however, that if the
incentive is great enough, even on q
smaller area planted, through intensive
| cultivation and use of fertilizer. pro-
duction could be increased"
AT the moment grain markets are
under the influence of excessive sup
plies. While there is the prospect Of
poor crops in the Southwest this SUM
mer and influences are adverse in the
Northwest due to dry weather, traders
consider it still early to base a bun
market on crop prospects. The Argen-
tine Is getting into more intense COM
petition with Canada for European mar.
kets and the United States continues to
find itself out in the cold. with its
prices more than z cents bushel over
the world level.
Inquiry by Russia for Canadian wheat
to be used for seed purposes has had q
buuish influence, and talk of imitation
also has stirred traders somewhat.
| (Copyright I933D