Evening star., 1933-04-09
live STOCK. PRICES
ARE HOLDING FIRM.
Market Marks Time During
Week After Recent Drop
in Quotations. Il
BY FRANK /. WELLER,


Live stock prices continue to mari
time after their retreat from recent higf
ground. There was comparatively little
net change in steers and yearlings al
Chicago during the week. hogs declined
10 to Is cents to put Chicago more in
line with rising outside markets, and fat
lamb prices skidded to the seasons low
point
just week ago. all grades and
weights of cattle were under pressure
early but strengthened near the close
under the influence Of supply abridge-
ment. Heavy steers hardly regained
what they lost however. and closed the
period 10 to Is cents lower. In most
Instances the late advanced on light
cattle fully erased the early downturn,
leaving the better grades firm and the
lower grades selling steady at IS down.
ward. ~. g.
Choice Cattle Scarce.
OF interest in this weeks ruin was the
scarcity of strictly good and choice
light cattle and the liberal run of
weighty bullocks. The arrival Of ele-
phantine kinds suggested the wood was
fairly full of cattle too heavy for re-
liable outlet on the basis of general
trade requirements. The average run
OF qualified longfeds sold at $4.60 to
S4.90. Most of them went to shippers
but at times shipper demand was re-
stricted because of the sluggish condi-
tion of the dressed trade. 1t was prob
able that some of the late buying on
outside account would be discounted be-
cause of active purchases for Kosher
slaughter in advance of the Jewish
Holidays which start next Tuesday
Very foU IN, the 1iChf starr and 1nno
yearling bracket sold above $6 at Chi
cago, only the upper crust pressing
for gains. The top was $3.50, COM
pared with $6.65 last week and $3.50
three weeks ago, but the practical top
was only $640 The fact that most
trade interests say they willingly would
pay 81 for strictly choice offerings seal
ing $50 to 100 pounds testifies to the
relatively poor quality of toppy kinds
now arriving.
with SO few good and choice light
offerings, running killers seem able to
hold the best grades available at So to
only on those kinds; but also on slight
1y less desirable offerings employed as
substitutes, suggesting the narrow out
let for the beef which the general
trade believes must be widened before
live cattle can stage anything like
substantial upturn.. For the most part,
Chicago is paying but $4.25 to $3.50
for light steers and yearlings-n even
hog prices in normal times.
=, Hog Prices Firm.
For the second consecutive week the
top on hogs stayed at or near the 81
mark. It has not been above $410 or
below 1895. on any day since March
Is. The market stays draggy with
weak updertone most or the time. 1t
got in better position to command ship
per interest at Chicago when prices de-
clfned IS to 20 cents there while most
other markets advanced. At the close,
however, shippers stin had proved a
minor factor and big packers had taken
smaller numbers than during the two
previous weeks.
rat lamb values ultimately dropped
to the. seasons low. point at Chicago.
buyers employing waiting tactics to
break down 1sl2efS resistance, Once tp
control they subjected the entire List to
revision. Even we'll finished medium
weight lambs, the kinds which got the
best action because Of numerical
scarcity, lost rs cents, and the market
on :heavies closed so cents lower In in
Clipped. lambs, which sold upward to-
45. so before prices started to slip, I'm
isi1ed at IS. The top on wooled yearl-
tng-wethers was $4.75 and later stopped
ot Cd 6n