Omaha daily bee., 1897-02-28

STOCKS AND BONDS.
w,ck Closes with Il Marked and soiid
Advance in the Market.

NEW YORK. Feb. 27.-The London and New
York stock markets today ana yesterday ha>
shown results like n chemical action ana reac-
ton. The strong upward movement which char-
acterlzcd the later dealings here, was rejected
in the London price of American sce'rit'Ss to-
day and the London market again gave tae
tone to the opening dealings here. Yesterday 5
strength was continued in today,s market, and
the bears found themselves unable to cope win
the situation. There was, indeed, a notable
ahs,nc. Of EFFORT to stem the course of prices, and
the shorts were content to get in under cover, in
face Of the bullish temper of the market. win
the exception of a slight reaction shortly before
tac close. due to protit-taking over sunday, the
market held firm, with n marked tendency
throughout the day. Apparently the determination
of the senate at Washington to continue the talk
on cuba has no further terrors for Wall street
in the absence of any SPECIFIC proposal OF an
of prices was accompanied by a notable activity
in trading. The volume of the dealings was
y half,holiday last Saturday. 1t was notice
able also that the leading, industrials sunk n
stunned considerably less than a third of the
total dealings as against n recent average OF
nearly %one-half. In today,s market; the railway
ton, and especially the grangers. There was
quite a large amount of buying through commits
sion houses on outside orders, indicating a de-
gree of speculative interest in the market, which
has been markedly absent for a long time. The
very encouraging traffic returns from railways
| for the third week in February must be credited
with n part of the strength in the railway
shares, and they reflected on the general list.
Undoubtedly today's movement was due to an
intention to discount the Improvement in values
which has for some time been confde' thy counted
| upon in connection with the inauguration of the
new president. 1t has been evident, also, that
a part of the sluggishness which has fettered
! the recent market has been due to waiting for
the policy of the new administration to disclose
| itself. Yesterdays and today's markets indi-
cate there are some buyers who have confidence
that they can foresee the effect of the new ad-
ministration on business and property. Today Is
the first time for many weeks that an upward
movement of prices has survived anything more
than a saort-lived covering OF shorts. Lake
n tanff in al N'c tnn rkaf ODntp
with a jump OF 1s points to l61ls, reacted to l6l,
but at the close there was bid for the stock
1925, while l65 was asked. Rumors Of plans
for the refunding of a large amount of bonds. to
mature shortly, and a resulting decrease in in
to benefit. were the cause OF the advance. Chi.
cage g. Alton also rose "a per ce-t to 1854, and
on purchases OF odd lots for secure investment;
Sugar, st. Paul, Omaha and Tennessee Coal and
Iron enjoyed the principal gains in the active
list and ended with an advantage of a point
each over yesterdays close. New Jersey Central
was conspicuously weak, and fell l per cent in
the early hour. but the other coalers held fairly
steady. The market closed active and strong,
with prices at about the best.
Today's closing prices were also the best OF
the week and are higher than the average range
OF last Saturdays, the losses which have oc-
all cases recovered. The depression and apathy
during the early portion Of the week were
marked. Wall street seemed to be determinedly
shutting its eyes to all that was favorable N
the general prospcct and to be g'v'"" : -"
to Immediate objects in the foreground. Ths
volume of trading grew constantly narrower,
md on Thursday showed less than 70. 900 shares.
The inert mass of money in the banks showed
no signs of life and there was no demand for
It even at the low rates Of " to IN per cent.
trade. Only the gilt-edged securities and high
class bonds commanded any market outside of
frmness was very manifest in the market, how
ever. and offerings on declining markets proved
to be very much restricted. 1t was notable, also,
that American securities were less affected on
foreign exch than others by the unfavor-
able political aspect in Europe. The widening
nIGDnrtlnn of fhR TnNiNnl In tho Iron md glaal
rail business has been diligently noted in Wall
street and the signs of an encouraging nature
In other branches of the industry and business
have had their favorable effects. The almost uni
versally favorable character of the reports of
been the most encouraging feature of all to Wall
street. The increase in railway earnings at the
with the fact that the returns Tor the early
months OF last year, with which comparisons
reports Of the earnings for three weeks of Feb
ruary show a very substantial average, as com
for February. 1896, show an increase of over 8
per cent, compared with those of February, 1895.
OF frmness to the market, 1t was, In fact, given
over TO a small element OF professional traders,
rumors. The cretan complication In Europe,
the threatened tension of relations with Spain
ate's decision. and the proceedings of the legis-
lative committee to investigate trusts. were each
traders and were the elements of a more or less
manipulative character in the depression and
stdbHhtlon oI the market, Inc hellef IN the de-
sire OF the powers for a peaceful adjustment Of
the Cretan trol be, the adjt urnm mt OF The l. xoy
committee and the confidence that there would
be nothing very damaging in its findings as to
the investigated properties, and the pardon by
Spain OF Sanguilly, all led to the un-
dence in the market and its assertion
In the rally of Friday afternoon. and
the short session of today. 1t is noticeable that
the higher range OF some OF the International
stocks In this market has attracted arbitrage
selling, the extent OF which some authorities seem
TO have much underestimated In fact. this
trading is claimed TO Have been sufficient TO ac-
count for the hardening tendency in rates of ex-
change, which Is difficult to account for in me
face Of the heavy outstanding trade balance I'm
our favor. The Hooking Valley receivership.
though expected. was a feature Of the week. and
rates. waged by a number OF Ohio companies,
with the result OF throwing several OF them irto
the hands OF receivers, The stock was depressed
TO ga, vita a subsequent rally TO 4A. The 5s
dropped ~ per cent to GAY, rallied TO 72A, and
closed at 70is, The Is rose 81 per cent 70 "a al
at 90, The assurance of "a speedy reorganiza-
ton was the ground OF the Improvement. The
general range OF prices is higher on the week.
the gains ranging from I 10 9 points in the lead
ing shares, with Lake Shore and Consolidated
Gas leading. the former with Az per cent and
Sugar, 2s per cent Tobacco. 3s yer cent; To-
baeco scrip. $40 per cent: Leather preferred. IA
per cent. Manhattan. IA per cent; American
Spirits preferred, 2 per cent; Illinois Steel. sn
per cent.
The bond market during the week deyeloped
decided strength on purchases for foreign and
domestic accounts. Considerable blocks OF the
standard issues changed hands at marked i'm
provements, and the market was broader than
for some time. The Investment inquiry was very