THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE 



Chicago market was $1.64 a bushel. Armour 

 and his associates on the Chicago Board, hav- 

 ing sold out their wheat to the Allies and made 

 $8,000,000 by the operation, began to engineer 

 the decline. They gave orders to sell July 

 wheat at the market in unlimited quantities. 

 By July 1st they had driven the price down 

 to $1.24)4 They then delivered 20,000,000 

 bushels and the price went up to $1.32. Then 

 they began to sell September wheat, until by 

 September 1st they had driven the price down 

 to 98 cents. 



The farmers were then marketing their 

 wheat, and it was against a price level thus 

 brought about that they must sell. 



American agriculture had in the great oats 

 deal of 1906 another historic lesson in the 

 true meaning of the speculative control of its 

 markets. 



New oats always command a lower price 

 than oats of the previous year's crop. Up to 

 July 20, 1906, only 41 cars of new oats had 

 been received at Chicago. On that day the 

 market was suddenly flooded with new oats. 

 In the morning hours on the Board of Trade 

 115 cars were offered for sale, and the mar- 

 ket under the pressure broke 4 to 5 cents. 

 Since only 41 cars of new oats had reached 

 Chicago, the mystery was where these offer- 

 ings came from. Anxious inquirers finally 

 learned that the flood had been released by 



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