FLUCTUATIONS IN WHEAT PRICES, JANUARY 2 TO APRIL 
18, 1925 
INTRODUCTION 
This is a report of the special investigation occasioned by the 
rapid and extreme fluctuations in the price of wheat futures during 
the early part of 1925. There were many days on which the price of 
May wheat fluctuated through a range of 5 cents or more, several days 
of 10 cents or more, and on two occasions over 13 cents per bushel. 
The widest and most erratic daily fluctuations occurred during the 
month of March. 
The details of this study cover a period of 89 trading days, from 
January 2 to April 18, 1925, with a general summary of the important 
price changes during the life of the May future. This period was 
selected because it covers the advance of nearly 30 cents in the price 
of May wheat at Chicago during January when the “public” was 
participating heavily on the buying side in anticipation of handsome 
profits. The period likewise covers the decline of 6514 cents from a 
secondary high of $2.02 on March 2, to a low of $1.3615 by April 3. 
The material for this report has been confined mainly to operations 
on the Chicago Board of Trade, as approximately 90 per cent of all 
trading in grain futures in the United States takes place on the 
Chicago Board of Trade. a the calendar year 1925 the aggre- 
cate volume of trading in wheat for future delivery on all exchanges 
was 20,623,939,000 bushels bought, with an equal quantity sold. Of 
this total, 18,048,510,000 bushels were on the Gon Board of 
Trade. A comprehensive study has been made of all accounts 
involving purchases or sales of 100,000 bushels or more within a 
single trading day. 
Special consideration has been given to accounts of 302 speculators 
who were active in the market during this period. Of this number 
there were only 38 whose net purchases or net sales within a single 
day amounted to 500,000 bushels or more. These 38 include 14 
persons who bought or sold net on one or more days 1,000,000 bushels 
or more. The latter group includes five individuals whose trading 
reached 2,000,000 bushels or more. There were, however, eight 
whose open commitments at some time during the period amounted 
to 2,000,000 or over. 
While this report emphasizes large-scale operations, which are 
important price-making a it is essential to keep in mind that 
futures markets can not function effectively without an element of 
purely speculative activities. It is equally important to keep in 
mind that the transactions in futures on the Chicago Board of Trade 
are primarily speculative in character in that probably not more 
than 5 per cent of the total volume of trading in wheat i 
hedging transactions. Just what volume ny character of specu- 
lating trading is essential to best serve the hedging requirements of 
producers, dealers, exporters, and millers is an open question. 
0