The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-02-18
IN THE STOCK MARKET,
Attention Conferred Almost Wholly In III,
ssg Weekly Bank Statement.
THE PUBLIC CONTINUES TO HOLD ALOoF
The buying and Selling Was Alto
+ wcther frofcssionni--Thc Trend
Was Toward the short side.
~ (special to The pos,)

7 .Q4t WINS reward the snort side.
| tSpecial to The post.l
New York. February l1.--S Mum. Son
Co. say Of stocks.
Stocks were quiet ana oasyy. London was
lapathetic the surplus receives Of the banks
decreased sS.SSi,soo. and tAe market was
mainly professional The retreat OF General
Cronie was known too late 10 aifect London
lund New York ienored Il. Fifty thousand
shares OF American Steel and Wire preferred
10 strenglhen both the common aud pye.
telred' Tho expected ner cent dividend
on Natiopal Steel. 1t is now said, Will not
be paid and This had more or Less de.
inGustrlals generally with considerable sue
cess. Baltimore and Ohio was sold on the
understanding TINT the policy Of the company
Is not 10 nay dividend At present. - Paul
/ was bought on increased earuspes. racine
Neii was sold down on tho evident dlspusl
ton OF the eoinnany to pay no alvlhenas eua
! tho appHreht failure OF the subsidy bill. Third
Avenue was DEPRESSED for @ time. but there
was pretty good buying at tho lower prices,
as the stockholders' committee Is believed 70
4 be q strong one. Tho mchiliEing OF the Britt
/ lsh naval reserves Is regarded as measure
calculated to preserve peace rather than
lnthewise. There are some fears Of higher
rates for money. but no pronounced strin-
cency Is expected. aud the activity OF trade,
/ Increasing railroad earnings aud the present
easy money rates are all regarded very
| naturally ns good bull points on tho general
situation. There IL less steam on. however,
outsiders are doing less in tho market and
It may drag for time. but on good declines
I We still favor huvlnE Bonds should be pur-
chased right along
New York February iT.--At,ention today
centered almost Wholly in the weekly state
mont Of the clearing house banks. The pub
lie continued to hold aloot from the market
and buying and selling were entirely in the
hands OF professional traders. The trend WAS
toward the short side Of the market.
In today's market the bears started to cover
theli short contracts after the bank statement.
| and worked a sharp rally. Some stocks were
ATTACKED anew in the hna dealings, making
| the close Irregular, but the general list was
| hrm at the rally, The bears found Paciho
| Mall vulnerable to further attack and had
some success with Peoples Gas, but Third
Avenue offered some resistance, large sell
ing order was detected In National Steel and
that stock was offered down / n, causing sym
pathetic declines in number OF the other
metal stocks. Federal Steel preferred fell an
extreme 2%: National Steel rallied, but drop
ped agaln 10 the lowest and American Hoop
leli suddenly an extreme tx In tho lnal deal
ings The developments in the money stua-
uCA may account for the weakness in the
non lnGustrals, as they are still looked upon
with oisiaYor by bankers and money lenders
as collateral,
lbe ceeieased cash account OF the banks
| ooniofmcd closely to Preliminary estimates,
and the low expansion OF Sl3,BSA,OJ0 created no
great surpr.eQ IN view OF the recens tea
Gehoy and known pressure Tor accommodn'
con in al departments OF the business world.
| The weekly trade reviews sufficiently indi-
cate the widespread activity in business In ali
lines at o high level OF prices, Surprise Is
rather felt that call money should have con-
t;nued in apparently abundant supply at 2
per cent during yesterday 1t is ffcult to
discern prospect Of early relief from the
| factors Which are making. inroads on tho
hanks cash resources, and with continued
pressure upon the banks at the present rate
4 for credits the encroachmeuts upon surplus
/ reserves, must be rapid.
Generally speaking, the tone of the stock
market had been firm this week but dull, the
average days business falling considerably
| below 100000 shares. Advances have been
made IN rather desultnry fashion here and
on the street but once made they yielded very
1 srudglngly in spite OF the dulness II be-
came promptly manifest on Tuesday when the
| week opened on Mondays holiday that the
previous weeks burden on realizing sales
was no longer pressing on the market and
operations by bull pools formed by profess
! sonhl stock traders quickly showed them
4 selves, The strength OF the market was
due to, the growing conviction that last year,
prosperous business conditions have a fair
chance OF continuance, But tho professional
operators IN stocks were tho only persons
70 manifest the courage OF their convictions
by buying stocks ON any considerable scale.
The general outaldo public maintnlped an
apathcto attitude toward the market, Last
all favorable caused doubt ana distrus, n
the MINDS ~ outsiders and they have refused
to ctmo back into the market this week. The
pubic npathy has been weight on the mar
ket and the weakness Of the Individual stocks
from individual causes has been further
disturbing factor. A disposition TO caution
about overstra ..lng the money market N
view Of the neSyy demands making upon n
Tor use In the regular chanDels OF the re-
newed absorption by the treasury of tho rcye-
nue. surplus since internal revenue receipts
fn fbC fVntt
instead Of into depository banks. were fao-
.ors OF TIE reaction. On the other hand are
details OF prosperity from all sides. Current
railroad earnings are at an Unprecedented
level and the volume OF merchandise traffic
1 IS hndlminlshed, in spite Of higher rates in
eheet thus more than offsettIng smaller
movement in grain and some other agrcul-
/ ulral products The working out OF plans for
dominance In control Of competing lines bv
the great railroad systems gives evidence
Il " progress and particularly IN Southern
sF2ups OF trunk lines, and the outlines OF an
pEreement among the two grent trunk lines
lor diYlsone of territory are seen to emergr
me foreign trade statement for January Is
SHOWS that the foreign demand for our manu-
1 iactures Is well maintained. in spite OF the
nigh level OF prices ruling and the valuo on
cotton exports ls 90 Gar enhanced in spite al
continued small volume as 10 largely Offset
the discrepancy between agricultural ex-
ports CT preceding months and those Of the
4 previous year, The worlds large needs Tor
i cotton are believed 10 Insure n market MOI
only for the moving crop. but for rho coming
enc, With a corresponding rise In the buy,n
POWER OF the cotton country. Litigation's cut
break between operators IA ono OF the great
steel companies has brought TO public not &c
assertions regarding last years profits in thu
trade aud estimates for the coming year +
pfouts, placing thea AZ astounding proper
nous stock OF companies In the iron and
steel Industry have advanced IN tho marku'
~ consequence. Professional operators in
stocks have protested some satisfaction over
me passage Of the financial bill through the
senate, but the general Interest in the sub
lect NJ It's present stnEe has seemed listless
70 financial clrcles The erect IN this mar.
kei n the favorable Developments in tho
BRUSH campaign in South Africa has been
moderate There has been a good business IN
the bond market, although prices were not
fully maintained at all points
Tho following IS reported by cargiI 4
Richardson, Houston:
stccks- open High, Low. Close
American Sugar .... ii3sa lf3n lI2K lfais
American Tobacco ...,i09 100 1881 1858,
Achitcn preferred ass 64% 6s $685.
tC.. g. ana Q, .....I2ih te4M l2tM lafsl