The times., 1900-12-29

| Inc DaDk abatement today VIII De
| good one. as far as is known. but this will
not stem a selling movement If it is cnce
well begun. The best advice in such a
market for the speculator en- margins is
| TO buy stocks on the reaction. 1t is not
! probable that it will extend beyond j
{ points in the railway securities, or be-
| yond 10 points in Sugar at the worst, and
! it may not go nearly so far, of course.
! inves tment holders viii do well not TO
| sell out, but rather to buy on the break.
There was no news in the street on which
to base the selling movement. and apcar-
emily il was, at first at least, simply a
little profit taking. Railway earnings
statements were all excellent, and the
December earnings now bid fair to be the
best of the year. and largely in excess OF
December CT last year. All general con-
ditions are favorable to much higher
prices during the coming three months,
and only the technical matter of selling
for profits after the sharp rise is unfayor-
able.
The grangers and the trunk line securi-
ties were the strongest features of the
marketA both in the advances and in the
declines. The booms in st. Paul and
pennsylvania were notable even in such
big market as the present. st. Paul
jumped up to 14S ga. or points higher
than the record price of 1899. 1t passed
Burlington, though at one time the later
stock sold at higher figure than it..
st. Paul also closed higher than Burning
ton, at 14S IA. There was much invest
ment buying of the stock, and it is be-
lieved also the large railway interests
were themselves purchasers on a large
scale in the furtherance of their COM
munity of interest plan in the West.
There can be little doubt that the people
who have been buying the Pacific securi-
ties recently were the purchasers of st.
Paul and the other grangers yesterday.
and that this buying is all in the line of
harmony in the West as in the East.
There is also much talk of per cent
dividend for livestock, which has the sup
port of some of the best informed people
in the street The earnings of the COM
pany for the third week of December
showed an increase of Is per cent over
those of last year, and we're the largest
on record for the week
Burlington and Rock Island were also
buoyant, but did not hold their own in
the afternoon break as well as st. Paul.
Burlington went to IA and closed at
1S2 1-2, with an excellent net gain. and
Rock Island went to l22 l-s, EEK" divi-
dend, equal to 125 3-s with the dividend.
Burlington in. the tremendous boom of
1899 went rs high as 149 1-2, so that it
is still some distance below the top.
Rock Island yesterday went above its
previous high price Of 122 Is, made in
1899. All Of these securities are con-
sidered good purchases on any further
sharp break. Chicago Great Western
common, which has been dead for many
weeks, doomed yesterday to ls. Some of
the professional traders said that the ac-
tivity of this and some of the other '-yel-
low dogs" yesterday was sign that the
top of the moFement had arrived, tempo
rariiy at least.
Pennsylvania had a squirt to 146 l. and
closed at 14e, with a large net gain. 1t
has never sold so high before in recent
years. the best previous record having
been i42 "a, last April. The earnings of
the company are enormous, and it has
been evident to conservative investors
that this stock was an excellent one to
have. There can be little doubt that it
will sell much higher than yesterdays
level during the coming few months. Peo-
pie known for their conservatism have
predicted that it viii reach 175 in 1901.
a larger dividend has been talked of for
the stock as regular thing and 1t is
probably safe to suppose that the extra
q
s per cent stock. The company is earning
Ia per cent OF the stock. at least. and ii
has averaged more than per cent for
many years, through good times and bad.
New York Central was doomed up TO
Ia rs, perhaps in sympathy with Penn
sylvanis largely, though ii is undoubtedly
an excellent investment purchase at its
present level. Its previous high price was
la S-S, in 1899, but at that time only
4 per cent dividend was being paid, while
now the stock is arinly established on q
per cent basis. and may get per cent
during the coming year.
Sugar was the sensationally weak fea-
ture Of the market, opening at the high
price for the movement, 145 1-2, and SELL
ing off nearly points to 40 3-4. 1t closed
practically at the bottom. Nothing new
was heard of the affairs OF the company,
but the many people who bought the
stock near the top have only themselves
TO blame for getting into one of the most
manipulated securities on the
entire list. One of the Wall Street pa
pers suggests that Sugar is one of the
stocks in which one mans guess is not
as good as another's, for instance, the
outsiders against the insiders
Another weak speciality, which has
doomed up rapidly OF late and was sold
off sharply yesterday was Peoples Gas.
II opened of point to 107 and sold down
10 lO4 3-E, closing near the bottom. There
has been more legitimate reason for buy
ing this stock, and it is reasonably certain
that ii viii later advance 10 its high price
for the moyement-110. Gas, 100. how
ever, is manipulated rankly at times.
Earnings statements. both gross and net,
this week have been excellent. The in
crease In net earnings for the Atchison for
the month OF November was $166, 600. The
company is now earning 5 per cent on the
preferred stock, and in excess of per
cent for the common. The Union Pacific
net earnings for the month show an in
crease OF $500. The earnings of the
Southern Railway for the third week OF
December show an increase Of $39, 900. The
Chicago Great Western gross earnings for
the same period show an increase of SS.-
54S Missouri Pacific gross for the week
increase, $4,000. II is to be noted that
the average increase In gross earnings dur
ing the second week OF December shows
an increase Of more than per cent. This
is the largest Increase seen In recent
weeks, and it indicates in very convince
ing way that the dullness of the past SUM
mer Is past. Railway earnings now are
the largest on record.
The steel securities had sharp advance
late ir the day, but before the close lost
all Of their gain. Wire was the leader of
tho boom. II was said in some quarters
that the statement of the company viii
show very large surplus over dividend
requirements at the present rates The