The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-19

deGt and Pacific Mail is considered good
purchase by many careful spectators.
The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
has declared full years dividend OF per
cent on the preferred stock. II is said
that other like yearly dividends on this
small issue. 81. 0e0. 600, will be declared in
the near future until the back account has
been cleared off. The total accumulated
dividend is only $500. 600. or thereabouts
The announcement of the ac' ion of the
company is most reassuring one. 1t is
another of the tangible evidences of the
prosperity of the steel and iron trade that
are coming in so thickly of late. Fuel and
Iron common opened up yesterday morn
ing. but declined before the end of the
day.
1t is unsafe to make any suggestions as
10 the probable course OF the Leather
common stock. IL may be pointed out,
however that the insiders seem TO have
been selling out stock ON the recent bulge.
The stock was rather weak yesterday.
The action of Sugar stock as has been
said, was almost the only weak spot in
the market Ii opened at an advance, and
during the early part of the day sold
around 119. Later a bear attack was made
and IT met with little resistance. The
stock declined itosiIi and a fraction, and
closed at lis "a, with a net loss of sew
eral points. The continual harping on the
recent utterances OF Mr.. Havemeyer re-
garding the Sugar dividends has caused
constant selling Of the stock by small
holders, in addition to the vicious attacks
Of the bears, and 1t has been surprise
TO many that the decline has not pro-
gressed more rapidly. There are 1000 or
~
part of them do not hold large amounts.
These people may at any time begin to un-
load in q hnneA II the dividend is TO be
cut. or passed. and even il il is 10 be
continued at the same rate. it seems not
in the least improbable tfst the. tumble
once begun may extend further. Predic-
tions that Sugar will sell below par within
a few weeks are frequent, and they are
received with much more attention in con-
servative quarters than they would have
been a little while ago. Very much the
best advice that can be given regarding
the stock. however is to keep out of it.
a student of the market made some sta
tistics regarding Sugar few days ago.
He computed that seventeen men out of
every twenty that speculate in Sugar lose
money. The facts probably would be
little more onesided than this even.
The few other securities that we're in
clined to sag yesterday were among the
industrials and the fractions. The railway
list generally either made advances or at
least held their own. Manhattan and
Metropolitan Traction were rather weaker
than Brooklyn Rapid Transit. II seemed
to be the idea OF the sellers OF the first
two securities that they would suffer more
than Brooklyn over the rapid transit de-
velopments. Metropolitan declined from
l65 to l63 L. and closed at 16i 3s. Man
haitian declined from 80 Ia at the opening
to 81 l-2, and closed at 90 is. Brooklyn
advanced TO 20 "a, and then declined to
CO IA at the close. fraction below the
opening. The weakness of these securities
does not seem to be so well founded at the
present time as that Of Sugar. Their tum
bic in price already has been immense, and
the Rapid Transit plans will require many
years for their development, and then will
not by any means mean the ruin Of these
great corporations. There are many that
believe an advance more likely than
further decline, Brooklyn especially.