At 9:30 a.m. the gong rang, signaling, the start of trading in the Chicago Board of Trade. Half an hour later, the pits were a pandemonium of roaring voices and flapping arms. Selling orders had flooded the exchange. At 10:15, traders yelled "Basement!" which meant that May corn had fallen 8¢, the legal limit for one day. Within the next few minutes, May oats had dropped their limit of 6¢, May wheat its 10¢ limit. It was the first day of a break in commodity prices which stirred the market as nothing had in two whooping years. The New...
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