The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-12-08
STOCK PRICES
GO STILL LOWER
Market is Weaker on Very Poor Bank
Statement.
SURPLUS RESERVES VERY LOW.
No support diveu tue Maket aud Sucks Are
Left to Take Care of Themselves.
Another Chase After
Copper.
Market is Weaker on Very Poor Bank
SURPLUS RESERVES VERY LOW.

ire ESslltIt, Ix1OS StltSifL. Will 81 ~ W.
Friday was continued yesterday, and. al
though it was reasonable to suppose that
after the sharp declines. there would be
a. reactionary tendency on Saturday, the
market did not recover from the blow
which it had received on the day pc
for. There was something OF !. rally
about eleven O'Clock, and it looked as
though the market was going 70 10 pee-
ter, but when the bank statement came
out showing a loss in cash OF more tlaa
81 COO 600. an increase III laonS Of more
than s.. COZ. COO and a decrease In reserves
OF $5,soi 800. bringing the surplus reserves
down to s6,e07, SIS. the market turned
weak again, and. closing. prices were
considerably lower in most cases than
on Friday.
HOW THEY DROPPED.
AmaIgamated Copper was again kicked
about and sold under 65. while American
Can also struck the lowest record price
Chesapeake and Ohio sold down to IS L.;
Norfolk and Western to 81 IL: Southern
Railway prefa1red to 81 IL; Union Pa
citic to 80 So; Steel preferred to 80 Sd;
Louisville and Nashville to 106 Is; New
York Central to 1st IL; Pennsylvania to
AS SIS, and so on. There was another
break in Manhattan, and Sugar went
down to about 120. Strangely enough
Consolidated Tobacco As. which have
fairly firm on Friday and Saturday. and
did not sell much lower than they have
been selling for some time past.
The selling yesterday was accelerated
by run1or Of big failure, but this was
stoutly denied.
VIEWS PRO AND CON.
The New York Tribune says that this
selling movement was iuausurated in or
der to shake out some of the little fell
lows, but, there are Richmond brokers
who believe that prices have for a long
time been too high, and that the time Tor
a. reaction has come. The country seems
to be about as prosperous as ittcan be
and the trade reports for the week show
trade conditions to be excellent. but that
very fact is urged by Some brokers as
an argument in favor of lower prices
Such brokers say that the country IS
now SO prosperous that the best THAT We
can hope for is coninuauor or the
present prosperity. with the chances
largely in favor OF a recession or the
wave of prosperity. They say that all
the good news is out. and that there is
nothing to discount in the way OF in
creased prosperity. They think, there
fore that professional spectators Will
prerer hereafter to take the bear side or
the market, as the chances are in favor of
less prosperity rather than greater
prosperity, or eTen Of continued pros
perity.
This, of course. is mere surmise- There
is no telling what Wall Street will do
and one of the shrewdest tradtrs In Rich
mond is equally firm in the belief that
the market Will be higher this week. and
that there will be another bull market
after January list
THE SIGNS ARE GOOD.
It is quite certain that barring The de-
preston in trade abroad and decrease
in our exports there is nothing to indicate
that cur prosperity is on the decline or
in danger OF an early decline.
The aggregate of bank clearlnSs in
November as compiled by "BradStreets"
was in excess Of that for October. and
was also by far the largest total ever re-
ported for the month of November. The
gains shown over the Same month OF re-
cent wears are. o fcourse. not as great as
in some earlier months. Present COM
parsSls are made with exceptionally
good rturns one and two years ago. but
they still point to present aggregates of
bank operations. ard therefore presun-
ably OF the general business volume.
heavily in excess OF any CORRESPONDING
period in the couutry's history. The like
showing is made by the eleven months
cltarinSs. and the indicated final total of
bank operations makes it certain that 1901
hos far cutdone any preceding year The
total cIearings at eighty-six cities were
s.. .064 ,533. s. per cent larger .han in
October and 12.5 per cent. larger than in
November, 1865.