The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-05
MARKET is WAITING
NO PRONOUNCED MOVEMENT IN
EITHER DIRECTION is Ex-
PECTED AT PRESENT
FEELING IS NOT OPTIMISTIC
No Great Activity Is Expected Until
the Steel strike Has Been Set
tIed-Waiting for Crop
Report

Henry Clews Wall street letter has the
following to say of present business con
ditions:
AT the moment the market is in a wait
ing attitude.and chiefly under the control
of the trading element So long as the
big leaders are absent no pronounced
movement in either direction can be ex-
pected. There is sufficient diversity of
opinion, however. to provide good trad
ing market until more settled tendencies
are developed. In buying much discrim-
ination is needed, for there are a number
Of properties selling much beyond their
intrinsic merit. Prices of these have
been quoted up in anticipation of vari-
Gus deals, and eXorbitant prices paid for
relatively small proportions of stock to
scure control. Needless to say, opera
ting in such stocks is dangerous work
for ordinary speculation. On the other
hand, selling the market might easily be
an Improbable venture as many of the
unfaVOrable conditions have been well
discounted on the recent decline and the
country as a whole has not received any
important check to it's general prosperity
Conceding the disaster to the corn crop
it will be more local than national and
will be largely offset by satisfactory
crops and conditions in other sections
Should the weather prove favorable dur
! ing the remainder of the season, we may
look for some compensa ton for the corn
crop. Speculative sentiment has receiV-
ed a severe shock from the effects of the
drought; yet we see nothing on which to
base a peSsimiStic view of the far future
outside Of the serious damage to the corn
crop. August is generally d quiet period
on the stock market, and in the absence
of support lower prices are likely to be
mace for the Corner Road stocks A
good deal depends upon the steel strike
which at present dominates the market to
a considerable extent.
The action Of the unions was a bold
challenge to the most potent corporation
Welded n
rights of capital, in dealing with en-
ployeS, must be surrendered and the in
dustries of the country thrown into con-
fusion. The action of the Steel Trust
therefore, needed to be unfinching and
unmistakable. The unionists should re-
cede from their demand for the mutual
benefit Of both sides. There has been no
small miSgiVing as to what may be the
outcome of the hostility of labor towards
this great corporation; but that dstrust
is now eXtingdished, and the great trust
experiment must conquer it's foremost
difficulty and foreStall it's chief peril.
The moral of this victory means the
strengthening of the trust institutions at
one of their most distrusted points, and
thereby adds a new element of confidence
to the great industrial investments which
have been organized within the last few
years.
The recent Improvement in the weather
has not produced any marked rebound in
prices Of stocks, probably owing to the
among the railroad authorities, the feel
ing is not optimistic 1t is a discourag-
ing fact that the balance of estimates
as 10 the Kansas corn crop places it at
but 20 per cent of an average, and, in
any case, it is too early as yet to form
any definite opinion ON these latest ma
turing cereals. August and the arrival
Of the frost are the factors that most
determine the yield of the maize plant.
Under these conditions there is a dis
position to defer purchases of stocks un-
til the probabilities of the crops are more
fully developed. At the same time this
uncertainty is serious factor tending
to hold the market in suspense, In
commercial circles the feeling remains
hopeful; the abundance of money in tho
treasury affords assurance that the loan
market will be well protected.
In estimating the future of the stock
market, the present status of prices is
to be considered. The fall since the break
incident to the Northern Pacific episode
has been more important than appears
to be generally realized; as will be evil
denced from the following comparison Of
the lowest quotations Of thirty leading
railroad stocks for the week ending July
q, with the highest for the first thirty
weeks of 1901: