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reported that Mr, Eccles of the Federal Reserve Board recogiized that 

 such a reduction in reserve requirements probably would be necessary in 

 the future although at the present time excess reserves are ample to take 

 care of a considerable expansion in bank credit. Therefore, all factors 

 taken into consideration, there would seem to be no cause for concern 

 over minor dips in prices of farm products. They are likely to be tem- 

 porary, and they may be caused by rumors, or technical considerations 

 such as an over-bought futures market, or temporary forced selling at 

 harvest time because of the lack of storage space. Apparently the wheat 

 market is troubled by the lack of storage facilities at the time when 

 the new crop already has started to market. Practically all of the new 

 wheat that has reached southweatern markets has gone into storage as woulc 

 be expected with the present market price so tc-x under loan rates. The 

 corn futures market was over-bought, but that technical situation has bee: 

 corrected. The open interest in corn futures declined this week 5 

 million bushels from the May top and 9 million bushels from the April top. 

 It is new in a strong position. The only factor that could depress the 

 prices of hogs and cattle to any great extent would be the lack of ships 

 to get lend-lease goods across the water. 



If imports, both of strategic war materials and other goods, 

 could be greatly increased v/ithout serious disturbance to the present 

 price structure, it would be very desirable. We would then be supplement- 

 ing our own efforts with the efforts of producers in other countries. 

 More of our effort could be relee.sed to produce necessary war materials 



which could not be imported. This v/ould be a desirable way of preventing 

 further price rises, and it V70uld be a constructive national policy. Pre- 

 sumably the administration has some such procedure in mind. 



The war , A magazine of the steel industry recently forecast 

 an ending of the war earlier than is generally expected. It based its 

 prediction upon the fact that the actual capacity of our steel and 

 industrial plants was under- estimated and that war materials arc being 

 turned out at a rate faster than ex'oected. 



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