The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-28
Dizziness In Wall Street Continues
and Stocks Oscillate Within
Marrow Range.
The Meaning Of the Great Shrink
age In the Volume of
Business,
Greater Ease in Money, Confidence Recov.
cred, Gold Coming Back, Good In-
fuences of Big Harvest

range too narrow to encourage large speCu-
lative transactions. Tie absence of any
advance in the Bank of England rate o.
discount last week, and the continued i'm,
ports Of gold, together with a further liberia
increase of the surplus reserve in the banl
Statements Of the 18th inst, were expected
to have a reviving effect upon the market
during the past week, but only a slight i'm
provement was inaugurated; but the mar
ket still shows by the daily meagre trans
action an insensibility to favorable factors
which can hardly be construed otherwise
than as an ominous symptom.
The %shrinkage of transactions on the ex-
change to less than ons-half their volume
plainly means that an important class Of
large holders have sold out and that they
are not at present disposed to enter the
market again at the current range of values.
Hence such a condition of present holdings
usually results in either a reaction of prices,
or ina prolonged st%agnancy, during which
comparatively weak holders have to keep
up a forlorn struggle again st the ''bears."
Numerous holders are apt to be not only of
the feebler class but also include
the least praoticed and influential; and
that is very much the case in ths present
situation of the market. The capitalist
class who were caught in the crisis Of last
fall with heavy loads of second and third
rate stocks have succeeded in transferring
them to transient speculative buyers; and
the former class Of operators, always SO
essential to a successful ''bulr' movement,
are now out of the market, and their tao
tics are likely to favor tbs "bear'' side n
til prices are more tempting than at pres
y emit. These men are as the wind to the
sails, the steam to the locomotive, the
money that makes the mare go;" and a
market without them has usually a very IN
promising prospect.
The present owners of stocks are, it is
by the general recovery of confidence, by
the influx of foreign gold, and by all the
good influences that attend such an extra
ordinary harvest as has befallen US; and
this may enable them to hold on and per-
haps to secure occasional advances; but
sfessional 'bulls'' they can make little pro-
,gress, and have the choice between a judi
,cious yielding and a protracted dullness
and ~stagnacy that can be ended only by
compulsory realizing. There cannot be a
good market without good buying, and
buyers, neither Of which of sufficient mag
nitude exist at present. There are plenty
of influential operators who, although they
believe in ultimate higher prices, yet think it
better to allow the market to rest for a
time; and they are likely to continue to
postpone operations until they can get in
on better terms than exist at present. In
brief, the market is in the unsatisfactory
condition of being strong enough to sup
port prices, and yet not attractive enough
to induce important strong buying. The
issue of such a situation is usually a pro-
&rQcfA6 and nrhpoEAn Hn1lnaaa whinh orr-
.tinues until holders are wearied out or
driven from the market; and there is too
much reason to fear that the present situa-
ton may run into just such a proftless
condition. Under such circumstances, it
seems the wisest policy for holders to let
go a part of their stocks and stand pre-
pared for getting into a fresh campaign,
starting from a lower basis of prices and
having the support of a class who alone can
make a boom successful.
But while the personnel and the makeup
the market are not conducive to pro-
gross. but are calculated to invite period
ical ''bear" attacks, the chief current fac
tors affecting the intrinsic value of securi-
ties are distinctly favorable. Tit foreign
for our wheat continues upon a
very large scale. and the yield in the price
of that cereal is calculated to stimulate its i
The return of gold from Europe
no symptom of abatement; and at
London the loss of gold has SO far pro-
duced no effect Upon the Bank of England
rate, nor upon the rate in the open mar (
while in the stock market the prefer a
ence for American securities is causing a =
steady stream of buying orders to be cabled =
to New York. This is certainly q better 9
of foreign finances than has been :
The uneasiness caused by the 9
new Russian loan and by reports of fresh .
in the Argentine republic seem to :
have the effect of stimulating the London
for our Investments. So far az
respects our local money market, the i'm
ports of gold and the moderation of the
shipments of currency to the interior leave
doubt that. for the remainder of the
year and probably until early next spring,
there will be no difficulty in procuring
money for stock exchange purposes. This g.
prospective ease in the loan market is caus- II
nR a marked improvement in the de- T.
nand for railroad bonds, which is a AZ
factor of real Importance to stocks.
The late reports of damage to cotton
are now followed by intelligence of killing =
Frcst in the cotton belt, the immediate !!
effect of which is to cause an advance in :
price both here and in Liverpool. There !
can be little doubt that considerable de- 4
will have to be made from the {
estimates of this crop; but as the {
price will probably be correspondinely ad- !
ganced the financial results of the yield are !
lot likely to be materially affected. 1t is I
unfortunate that, with go many good ele- j
in the situation, the undue forcing I
lp of prices during the late boom should !
nave put the stock market in a position |
which prevents an adequate response to 4