The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-09-24
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL
WEDNESDAY. Sent. o.

the board at three O'Clock the fluctuations were
from 1925 to 1885, with the closing transactions at
at 142zs. Afterwards, however there was increased
pressure to sell ''short" gold for the purpose Of
breaking down the price, which eventually declined
to l42's, and this was the latest quotation ON the
street. The rumor that the Treasury was sell
ing coin was again revived by the bears
for speculative effect, although 1t is entirely
without foundation in fact, and the lie not with
out Its influence among the mass Of operators who
always ready to follow whatever will-o' the wisp
presents itself. The ''short" interest has been
largely increased since the beginning Of the week,
and the market Is now so largely OversOld that q
violent upward reaction Is likely to take place at any
time, and the operators for fall will do well not to
be lulled into false Of security, There would
be nothing to say against this decline If it was The
result Of natural causes, but 1t is owing
to artificial pressure it will assuredly be followed by
strong reaction in the opposite direction, and here
in lies the evil OF the present excessive speculation
in gold, to mitigate which Congress should Impose
heavy tax all speculative sales, eXempting, how
eyer, legitimate transactions. There very
active borrowing demand for coin, aud loans were
made at rates varying from one to seven per
cent per annum In favor Of the lender
and at 1-64 and 1-32 per cent per diem; but
later in the day some exceptional transactions
were reported to have been made Stat" The
volume of business was large and the gross clear
ngs representing the regular transactions yesterday
amounted to S9l,9SS, 900, the gold balances TO
sl,2i7 $50 and the currency balances to $3,4S4oo6
The SubTreasury disbursed $35, S63 in coin during
the day in payment Of interest on the public debt.
The stock market was unsettled nearly all day, but
late in the afternoon there was spasmodic rise in
Erie So promoted apparently by parties whose OBJ
ect is to get the street Ong OF the stock prepara-
tory to returning large amount of borrowed stock
nd stI a
the market, the object of this movement being 1t Is
believed, to break the price to o much lower range
than it has yet reached. The "point" to buy Erie
was given out very freely this morning-a circum-
stance in itself suspicious, and the street and the
outside public will do well to guard against falling
into the trap set for them With respect to other
stocks there is no inducement for those who have
any regard for real values to buy them at their pre-
sent dangerously inflated prices; but the whole
market is 30 highly cliqued that 1t is not
| impossible they may be carried still higher
before the inevitable reaction comes. Money
continues in abundant supply, but there was an In
creased demand for 1t noticeable to-day and some
OF the banks advanced their rate for call loans to
five per cent. The general rate on good mixed COL
lateras H. however, four per cent and the principal
dealers government securities are still supplied ct
three per cent. The banks are not sending much
currency westward, but money In the Western
cities Is working close, ana increased difficulty Is ex'
perienced in obtaining accommodations, while
the Chicago journals speak Of the banks there
sending currency to the country, several Of
which are still ordering 1t from this centre. Com
mercia paper continues in moderate supply and the
best grade passes at OK per cent per annum dis
count. In the dry goods trade to-day there was not
much activity, the rather wide differences between
the views of buyers and sellers tending to restrict
business. There Is better demand at steady prices
for silk and woollen goods than any other kinds and
at the auction sales the bidding for these was
spirited while domestic cotton fabrics were neglected
and rather heavy. '+eesySss's' = s~~s .r-s--r
The market for government securities was duh
but steady until the quarter-past two call, when
there pressure to sell by the bears, which car
ried prices down about quarter per cent After.
wards on the street, however, there was fractional
recovery and good demand for all that was offered.
There was no other cause for the decline than the
speculative one referred to, and the advance in five
twentes in London to 78x decidedly favored an ad-
vance. The borrowing demand for nearlysall the Is.
Is still very heavy the result Of the large "shor
interest outstanding, and the supply OF bonds In the
street is lighter than usual. The foreign bankers
continue free purchasers especially Of the fve.twen
Of 1867 and the general demand for investment
is increasing, the proper impression very
correctly being that our national securities
are cheaper than any others in the coun-
try at present prices; for while railway and mis-.
cellaneous stocks are selling far above their real
value, the is exactly the with respect to
governments. At five O'Clock the quotations on the
street were as subjoned:-Registered, 1881, 1884
1132i; coupon, 1881, 11i4 114Is; 520s registered,
1892 100 1905; 5-2o's coupon, 1862. 114a lax;
do, 1854 1o91s 11o% do, 1865, 11OS ll1H; do,
1885, January and July, 10sI 1887; do, 1867,
100 lO9b; do, 1868, 1925 1O91; 1o-4O's regis
tnrp n u.
September compounds 1896, 119]l; October do. 11Sx.
AT the commencement Of business the stock mar
ket was lrm at the closing prices OF last evening"
but at the early session Of the open board 1t was
slightly lower, Erie selling at 4sS against ASH be-
fore ten O'Clock and Pacific Mail at HOY against ILL.,
| AT the first regular board there was q moderate
| degree OF activity aud prices were gene
rally higher, especially for Reading which
sold upto 95K. On the call Cleveland and Pittsburg
| closed u higher than at the same time yesterday
Cleveland and Toledo n, Northwestern y, preferred
a. Milwaukee and st. Paul preferred u, Pacific Mail
| Ia, Reading IN and Quicksilver y; while New
| York Central was tx lower, western Union Tele-
graph y, and North Carolina skies, new issue, n.
Government securities were dull and firm. At the
open board at one O'Clock prices were generally
fraction lower but Erie remained nrm at ASK. At
the second regular board the market was firm, and
on the call New York Central closed y higher than
at the first regular board, Erie u, Cleveland ana
Pitsburg u, Rock Island Ia, Pacific Mail x, and
North Carolina skies, OK coupon, y; while Reading
was u lower Northwestern e, Fort Wayne u, and
Quicksilver u. Government securities were dull an
fraction lower under the efforts Of the bears to de-
press prices. At the open board at halfpast three
the volume OF business was light, while prices re-
NAMED steady, and Erie sold at ASK; New York
Central 12s; Reading, e45s; Rock Island, 1oax, and
Pacific Mail 1oo&. Subsequently there was an ex.
cited demand for Erie, under which the price ad.
vanced TO so, following which 1t reacted to 4o,S and
then recovered to 4e. AT the close at six O'Clock
the market was firm at the following quotations.
New York Central, 1873 a l2s4; Erie, 4oal; Reading,
CAS- 9Ial; Michigan Southern, SAY a SAX; Cleve-
land and Pittsburg, ssIs $50; Cleveland and To-