The times., 1899-12-31

made big profits -Inve-tcrs have ezu Sc
curities put on The dividend list that have
not paid anything for many years and
other dividends increased. In grt at num-
bsr of cases earnings have beeI i.nneI
and il is known that dividends VIII be- paid
in the near future, in January and Febru-
AIRY. More than his. nearly the entire ist
Of securities dealt i'm on The Ne. York
Stock Exchange shows q good net advance
jn prices for the year despite the volelt
declines that have occurred on two occa-
eious Owners of securities may 10 ~
look back on new dividends and L. ger di j.
deuds in many cases, but a-s1 tn market
value OF their property has increased, 20
say nothing Of intrinsic value. There has
not been year IN which conditions have
improved SO universally, for Ions time.
The speculative public has not been for
tunate all the time. but even the lambs.
who buy securities on small margins, are
probably FAR better of as the result Of the
year than Is usually the case The Jan
uary boom was made by these people and
their profits were largely at the expense
Of the professionals. who sold stocks dur
ing the entire month convinced that the
advance could not continue The immense
boom in Tobacco and the advances in the
Federal Steel securities all gave profits 10
the public. which, in many cases. has not
been lost as yet and may never be. The
break when Governor Flower died. and the
panic OF the present month. cost the pub
lIC an immense sum. but in the latter case
III is well known that many big seml-pro-
iessiOnal pools suffered heavily. and in
some instances were ruined, while on the
an-- -. l,Fafa
were heavy short sellers for their Gus
toners.
II is the popular theory that the coming
year viii be q repetition Of the one that
has closed, as Ear as It's prosperity Is con-
Verued. There are much better reasons
than The popular theory for this belief,
however. The commercial agencies tell
unanimous story OF a great business every
where at present and the best Of promise
tor The coming months Contracts have
been made for many months TO come at the
highest prices by all the manufacturers
| The railways generally VIII adopt higher
! rates with the beginning of the year and
the great tide OF traffic. demanding even
more facilities than the lines can give
viii make the continuance OF the better
rates possible Already the railways are
Uiling up big earnings. but with 10 to p
| per cent advance in freight tariffs the in
/ creased cost Of materials to the carriers as
! well as TO everyone else, viii be more than
Offset The foreign trade OF the country
| is increasing rapidly, and there is excellent
/ reason for believing that during the com
| ing year big strides viii be made in this
direction especially in the Pacific trade
| The total foreign trade of the country fol
the eleven months ending with November
&c. was about $1,000 Geo. COO Of which
/ 81 Ilg. COO 0Co was in exports leaving
trade balance in favor Of America of S42a.-
| e00 Geo In the complete year the total for
eign trade VIII exceed s., ,OC0 GOO 600, and
the trade balance viii exceed $5o0,oo0,00O
Technical conditions surrounding the
] stock market are also excellent. The
f, financial situation is improving, and the
best authorities are OF the opinion that the
stringeHcy OF the past two months viii
not be repeated for some time TO come, at
I least The flow of money from the interi-
OF has at last begun. and viii continue in
greater volume The disbursements of in
terest and dividends in January viii be the
largest on record. The end of the Boer
war may be near or far away. Its worst
effects have been felt already. or dis
counted in the selling OF stocks. When
i comes The South African mines viii again
begin 20 pour their food OF GOLD into the
markets Meanwhile the other gold mines
@ the world are more productive than ever
before The London financial situation IS
appre1iabIy easier Stocks are selling far
below the high level Of 1889 even although
they show net advances for the year AT
present prices the great majority Of securi-
ties are paying dividends which make an
excellent return on the money invested.
The higher priced standard stocks paving
I s and per cent dividends are selling from
los 10 l22 and the indusJrials that pay
dividends, return All the way from : to il
per cent on the investment With bUsi-
ness conditions improving steadily such
prices are certainly not likely TO continue
Many believe that the coming three months
viii see q higher range than any in 1893.
For day or two If seems possible that
the boom Of the past week may be fol-
lowed by q decline. The first days in Jan
uary frequently witness declines. Later,
however, the professional element is Ger
tain 10 begin discOunting the January dis
hursements. The recent heavy investment
buying Of the better class Of securities is
certain to have a strengthening effect or
the market The Nauderbits and the big
insurance companies have been heavy buy
crs during the past week. and the Stand
ard OH people have taken the long side
ri the market. for q speculative turn, az
least
The bank statement for the week was
relatively unimportaut. but It's figures were
. all reassuring. The condition OF the banks
now is very much better than Il was a
month ago both b the amount Of cash on
hand. and in ihe reserve. The figures Of
+ the statement are as follows;
Reserves Increased. s7sf GGJ
Loans increased 3.3 500
Specie deceased 868 200
Iagai- increased .lG8 900
7 Dep rs decrease G.-.. .5- 900
'irlHiailea itfl-esed-- 5000
! Several important monthly earnings
statements have been given out during the
/ past week. IN addition 10 those already
/ published the Northern Pacific and Reading
. figures for November and for the fiscal
I year 10 date are most interesting. The
! Northern Pacific statement is as follows.
For Nov,ubar-
Gross eaming-. ...-..... Sza5s.3sl Inc. 1872 zs5
: Aet e8ruiHrs- -..-.-..... l,1g236 Inc. SOP
I Net operating income. l5Gf-s Inc. 30a5G
/ Nrf inc, main system. lGau3H Inc. I7IJs
/ Proprietary linas...--.. 22as Dec lgg34
Ta,al.......... .....- 50 .63G Dos Inc 1926
Prom July io November 81
Gross earnings "a .3is.ail Inc 81 ,620579
Aaf