By letter dated July 9, 1982 defendant offered to purchase the yacht from Coleman for $134,000.00. Defendant agreed to pay $8,000 with the letter, $116,000 when the yacht was ready for shipment, and $10,000 upon its arrival in Sioux City, Iowa, "in good condition and with clear title." All payments were thereafter made as stated in the July 9, 1982 letter.

Plaintiff made various changes on the yacht before it left its plant to meet specifications submitted by Coleman and defendant. At one point defendant asked Robert Ripka, vice president of production for plaintiff who was in charge of delivery of the boat, whether he should make the check out to Coleman and J.E.K. jointly. Ripka told him it was the usual practice for the sale to go through the dealer and instructed him to wire the money to Coleman.

On or about July 16, 1982, plaintiff delivered the yacht to Cim's Marina, Sioux City, Iowa. Coleman had previously given plaintiff an insufficient funds check for another boat. Therefore, Coleman was on a C.O.D. basis with plaintiff. When Ripka was notified by J.E.K.'s truck driver that the yacht was in Sioux City, he contacted Coleman. At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Coleman advised Ripka that if plaintiff would unload the yacht so that it could be prepared for delivery to the defendant, the money would be wired to J.E.K. by 3:00 on the following Monday. Ripka authorized delivery on Friday to Coleman's employees at the marina.

Coleman's employees prepared the yacht for delivery to the defendant by mid-afternoon on Saturday. Defendant paid the final $10,000 to Coleman, received a notarized bill of sale, and thereafter took the yacht to Omaha, Nebraska. Defendant did not receive the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin or the Master Carpenter's Certificate to the yacht.

Coleman did not pay plaintiff for the yacht and was discovered to have no funds. No invoices, bills, or demands were ever sent to defendant by plaintiff until an action for replevin was filed six weeks after delivery of the yacht.

Our determination that the district court properly concluded that a directed verdict for defendant should have been entered at the close of evidence moots the question of whether the jury instructions may have been erroneous. The district court denied plaintiff's motion for new trial on the ground that the action was governed by Sections 2-403(2) and (3) of the Nebraska Uniform Commercial Code. Those sections read as follows:

(2) Any entrusting of possession of goods to a merchant for purposes of sale who deals in goods of that kind gives him power to transfer all rights of the entruster to a buyer in ordinary course of business.

(3) "Entrusting" includes any delivery and any acquiescence in retention of possession regardless of any condition expressed between the parties to the delivery or acquiescence and regardless of whether the procurement of the entrusting or the possessor's disposition of the goods have been such as to be larcenous under the criminal law.

It is clear that Coleman is a merchant "who deals in goods of that kind," i.e., yachts. It is also clear that plaintiff entrusted the yacht to Coleman. Indeed, the plaintiff concedes in its brief that "the court properly concluded that the Yacht was entrusted for the purpose of sale." Therefore, the only remaining question is whether there was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on the question of whether defendant was a buyer in the ordinary course of business.

Nebraska U.C.C. Sec. 1-201(9) defines a "buyer in ordinary course of business" as "a person who in good faith and without knowledge that the sale to him is in violation of the ownership rights or security interest of a third party in the goods buys in ordinary course from a person in the business of selling goods of that kind." Nebraska U.C.C. Sec. 1-201(19) defines "good faith" as "honesty in fact in the conduct or transaction concerned."

The ultimate question presented is, as correctly stated by appellant, whether "it would have been error to direct a verdict when the claim involves the issue of whether a party is a good faith purchaser and when evidence is adduced from which reasonable minds could reach different conclusions."

We conclude that no such evidence was adduced and that the district court properly concluded that a directed verdict should have been entered at the close of all the evidence. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of a new trial.

It is settled law that a "directed verdict is in order only where the evidence points all one way and is susceptible of no reasonable inferences sustaining the position of the nonmoving party." Hinkle v. Christensen, 733 F.2d 74, 77 (8th Cir.1984); Smith v. Hussman Refrigerator Co., 619 F.2d 1229 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 839, 101 S. Ct. 116, 66 L. Ed. 2d 46 (1980). Where the evidence presented allows reasonable men in a fair exercise of their judgment to draw different conclusions the motion for directed verdict should be denied, but the case may be taken from the jury if no rational jury could find against the moving party. Martin v. White, 742 F.2d 469, 472 (8th Cir.1984); Dace v. ACF Industries, Inc., 722 F.2d 374, 375 (8th Cir.1983); Giordano v. Lee, 434 F.2d 1227, 1231 (8th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 403 U.S. 931, 91 S. Ct. 2250, 29 L. Ed. 2d 709 (1971).

In viewing the evidence the district court was required to view it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. That court was required (1) to resolve direct factual conflicts in favor of the nonmovant, (2) assume as true all facts supporting the nonmovant which the evidence tended to prove, and (3) to give the nonmovant the benefit of all reasonable inferences. Martin, supra, 742 F.2d at 472; Breeding v. Massey, 378 F.2d 171, 176 (8th Cir.1967).

However, a mere scintilla of evidence is insufficient to present a question for the jury. There must be a conflict in the substantial evidence and not merely speculation or conjecture. Boeing Co. v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365, 375 (5th Cir.1969); Schneider v. Chrysler Motors, 401 F.2d 549, 555 (8th Cir.1968); Simpson v. Skelly Oil Co., 371 F.2d 563, 568 (8th Cir.1967). Plaintiff is not entitled to unreasonable inferences, "or inferences at war with undisputed facts." Schneider, supra, 401 F.2d at 555. The district court properly applied the standards stated to the factual circumstances established by the evidence.

For it is clear that plaintiff J.E.K. elected to make its sales through independent dealers such as Coleman and to receive payment from the dealers. Defendant could not deal directly with J.E.K.. Indeed, he was told by Ripka that he should not make the checks payable to both J.E.K. and Coleman. J.E.K. knew defendant had already made some payments. J.E.K. entrusted the yacht to Coleman on Friday for delivery to defendant without obtaining any payments. J.E.K. obviously knew that defendant was the purchaser and was providing the purchase price of the yacht. By statute any secret conditions between J.E.K. and Coleman do not alter the fact that the yacht was entrusted for purposes of sale. There was no evidence that defendant knew J.E.K. turned over the yacht for preparation only.

The fact that defendant did not receive the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin or the Master Carpenter's Certificate was not sufficient evidence to find that defendant knew the sale was in violation of J.E.K.'s ownership rights or security interest. No security interest was ever recorded. The district court properly concluded that the missing documents did not present a conflict in the substantial evidence. We agree that such evidence was not sufficient to take the case to the jury. In short, we conclude that the district court properly determined that a directed verdict should have been entered at the close of all the evidence. The district court's denial of plaintiff's motion for a new trial is therefore affirmed.

Defendant's cross-appeal from the order denying defendant's motion to retax costs may not properly be sustained. Defendant sought to have the costs incurred for long distance air-fare for a witness taxed against plaintiff. Under Rule 54(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, allocation of costs is within the sound discretion of the trial court and its decision will only be reversed for an abuse of discretion. Cross v. General Motors Corp., 721 F.2d 1152, 1157 (8th Cir.1983); Linneman Const., Inc. v. Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Inc., 504 F.2d 1365, 1370 (8th Cir.1974).

We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion to retax costs. The district court is also affirmed on defendant's cross-appeal.

It is so ordered.