Influence of New York Market 



The net efTcet of these develop- 

 ments has been a by-passing of the 

 established market. Priee-wise it 

 meant withholding from trading 

 activity a significant volume of sales 

 and a substantial number of oper- 

 ators. Trading at the wholesale 

 level was increasingly concentrated 

 at fewer points, many of which only 

 indirectly participated in price-mak- 

 ing. The progressively limited 

 amount of active trading that re- 

 mained, nonetheless, continued to 

 be relied upon as a suitable basis 

 for arriving at the "quotation." 

 That the trading and the method of 

 reporting have continued to serve as 

 well as they have is due to certain 

 restraining influences, especially the 

 New York Market. 



Opportunity for Improvement 



One need may be an appropriate 

 legal framework. Both the U.S.D.A. 

 and the trade shy away from any 

 practices that might openly be de- 

 scribed as price-making. This ob- 

 stacle is not insuperable. 



Another need is more adequate 

 statistics. Data on receipts should be 

 reported on a size basis when me- 

 dium or small eggs make up a 

 substantial portion of the total. They 

 should be further classified accord- 

 ing to receiver groups so that re- 

 ceipts normally not available for 

 trading (those at plants of large- 

 volume retailers) are properly ac- 

 counted for. Changes in those 

 receipts reported by wholesale han- 

 dlers might then give a more mean- 

 ingful clue regarding the extent or 

 absence of pressures on the stocks 

 to be traded. Data should also be 

 available on the movement into 

 retail channels. 



A third need, and this is perhaps 

 the most crucial, is a more definable 

 responsibility for price-reporting and 

 price-making. 



The responsibility of the Herald 

 reporter is quite definitely to his 

 paper and through it to the Ex- 

 change. The obligation of the Boston 

 Fruit and Produce Exchange is to 

 its membership. Its egg price-report- 

 ing activities are, however, rigorous- 

 ly limited. The interest of the 

 Market News Service is general but 

 has been somewhat indecisive. 



Anti-Trust Decree Inadequate 



Since December 1949, except for 

 the activities of the Department of 

 Agriculture, egg-pricing and price- 

 reporting in Boston have been sub- 

 ject to a consent decree of the 

 Anti-Trust Division of the Depart- 

 ment of Justice. The provisions of 

 the decree, although correcting some 

 defects, have introduced others, 

 particularly impediments to the free 

 flow of market information. 



Need for a Gideon 



The impasse resulting from this 

 multiplicity of interests might be re- 

 solved if some Gideon stepped forth 

 to cut through the confusion, held 

 out a program, and said, "This is 

 it!" The egg industry, however, is 

 still a system of private enterprise. 

 Much of these basic data conse- 

 quently can be had only by volun- 

 tary participation in a program. It 

 should be possible for the afTected 

 groups to meet together for discus- 

 sion, and without fear of legal action, 

 to develop the necessary arrange- 

 ments. The thinking should be in 

 New England terms ; the data, mean- 

 ingful; and the responsibility, 

 accountable. 



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