Investment Research and Analysis in Online Business Trade Directory

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Commodity Research Bureau CRB in Online Business Directory

It was 1933, the country was in the depth of the Depression, and the United States had just gone off the gold standard. At a value of $0.59 compared to the pre-devalued dollar, capital began flowing back into the country and trading activity in stocks, bonds, and commodity futures was beginning to show some life. Nevertheless, traders and those interested in commodities found very few sources of comprehensive information were available to them. At this time, Milton Jiler, a young reporter for the New York American, was covering commodity exchanges and doing freelance public relations work for some of the exchanges to supplement his income. Gregarious by nature, Jiler soon became known among the exchanges commodity traders. He was quick to realize that unless one was actually on the floor of the exchanges, price and volume information was difficult to come by. Although The Wall Street Journal covered the stock market quite thoroughly, there was little if any price information available for commodity futures. Milton Jiler had a simple idea. If no one was providing information about the commodities markets, trading was limited to those people with direct access to the floor. Increased use of the telephone made communications between customers and their brokers easier, but there was no source of closing prices that could be used to establish trends and trading strategies. This was particularly important to brokers, advisors, and commercial users of the various commodities as well as the speculators who made the markets. As a journalist, Jiler firmly believed that, No publication should be started unless it is needed. What he saw was the need for a medium that would bring information about the futures markets to interested parties on a timely basis. With that in mind he founded the Commodity Research Bureau, with the Futures Market Service as its first publication. Starting with virtually no capital, Jiler had to convince potential customers and suppliers of the viability of his new idea. He first found a printer willing to produce one issue of the Futures Market Service on credit; an unheard of arrangement in light of the economic times. Additionally, he located a paper supplier willing to provide stock on the same terms. He then approached several of the people he knew would benefit from his idea. His first calls were placed to some of the leading brokerage houses of the day: Ed Pierce, president of E.A. Pierce and Company, and Harold Bache, president of Bache & Company, were early supporters. They agreed to purchase several hundred copies of the new publication on a trial basis and distribute them to their brokers and key clients. When it finally appeared that the concept would become a reality, Milton convinced his brother, Harry Jiler, to join him as president of the fledgling firm. A Certified Public Accountant and an economist, Harrys experience and insight would prove to be extremely valuable to the new company. According to Milton Jiler, Getting that first issue out required chutzpah. But on February 3, 1934, the CRB Futures Market Service made its debut. The report consisted of seven legal-size pages, with typewritten text, divided into multiple sections. The lead article was an overall analysis of the markets headed, The Outlook for Commodity Prices. This feature set the tone for the publication and remains as the front page story to this day. Following the lead report was an analysis of the individual commodities, grouped according to letter grades. In retrospect, this grouping provided an insight to governmental policies as well as general economic conditions of the day. Group A-1 commodities included those contracts entitled to further price improvement on the basis of actual or indicated statistical improvement. Group B-1 included commodities dependent on new governmental aid or international restriction for further price increase. Group C-1 was classified as these commodities should join in the general advance. This group has evidently discounted special factors.

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