Price Insurance

For years grain, cotton and other commodity men have had a neat device to hedge themselves against violent ups and downs in prices. It is the futures market, in which they can buy and sell commodities for delivery months in advance. Last week dealers in two other products subject to roller-coaster price swings were busy setting up futures markets of their own. In Florida citrus men laid plans for a futures market in booming citrus concentrates, whose prices fluctuate as much as 60% in a season. In Chicago a futures market in scrap iron and steel will open late this summer at the huge Mercantile Exchange, where $1.3 billion worth of farm products are now sold each year. Eventually, metalmen hope to trade up to 24,000 tons of scrap iron and steel a day.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.