Also known as: going prices · market price
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The prevailing or current market value of goods, securities, or other property.
Gustavo Gutierrez contracted to buy steel coils from Greenleaf Farms at a fixed unit price. When Greenleaf Farms repudiated, Gustavo learned of the breach and immediately checked published industry reports to identify the going price for comparable coils at the place of tender. He then calculated his damages by subtracting the contract price from that going price and added incidental costs of locating replacement supply.
Gerald Gibson purchased perishable produce from Great Lakes Steel for delivery to a warehouse in Chicago. After the goods arrived damaged, Gerald revoked acceptance. To prove damages, he offered evidence of the going price for conforming produce at the Chicago arrival point rather than at the original tender location.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Glenn Gross bought shares of a manufacturing company at the prevailing trading price on the exchange. When later disclosures revealed earlier misstatements, Glenn alleged that the going price at purchase already incorporated the false information and that he would not have paid that amount had the truth been known.
George Garcia learned material nonpublic facts about a mining discovery and purchased shares before public announcement. After the news broke, the going price rose sharply. Regulators later charged that Garcia's trades exploited information not yet reflected in the market price.
Georgia Gibbs received a proxy statement seeking approval of a merger. She claimed the statement omitted facts that would have altered the going price investors assigned to the target shares. The court assessed whether a reasonable shareholder would have viewed the omitted information as significantly changing the total mix of available market data.
Grove Manufacturing agreed to supply aluminum products to Granite Holdings under a long-term contract containing a price-escalation formula tied to market indices. When raw-material costs rose, the parties disputed whether the going price for finished goods had increased enough to trigger the adjustment mechanism.
The going price is established as of the time the buyer learned of the breach and at the place for tender. Published market reports and trade quotations that the relevant industry generally relies upon may be admitted to prove that price.
Supporting sources
Yes. Published market quotations and price lists that traders or professionals in the relevant occupation routinely consult fall within a recognized hearsay exception and may be admitted to establish the going price.
Investors are presumed to have relied on the integrity of the going price when they trade in an efficient market. A material public misstatement is presumed to have affected that price, allowing plaintiffs to invoke the presumption without proving individual reliance.
No. A buyer who does not cover may still pursue damages measured by the difference between the contract price and the going price, along with any provable consequential losses.
…the application of the Act to Filburn's activity: "One of the primary purposes of the Act in question was to increase the market price of wheat and to that end to limit the volume thereof that could affect the market. It can hardly be denied that a factor of such volume and variability as home-consumed wheat would have a…