Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-01-21
EXCITED AND NERVOUS
DESCRIBES THE CONDITION OF AT
EAIEs IN THE STOCK MARKET
SATURDAY,

| Bull Effort Prices Broke Violently,
| and the Market CIosed in a Semi
| DcmoraliSed G o it o N, Win
!, Prices Generally at the Lowest
/ Point of the Day.
NEW YORK, January 19.-The
stock market was excited and nervous
throughout the short session to-day,
under the varying fortunes of the spec
ulative contest waged between the bulls
and the bears. The bulls made a de-
terniEed stand in the early DEALINGS,
boldly supporting the weak spots py
LIBERAL buying orders and causing
sharp advances in special stocks "nlch
had sustaining influence on the gem
eral market. The unwieldy short IN
terest was made uneasy by this show
Of strength and bought urgently 10
cover. When the bank statement ap-
peared there were mixed opinions as
to the bearing of the large changes
disclosed, but the bears detected sell
inc to realize by the interests when
had been opposing them and they Tell
upon the market with determination.
selling orders for both accounts ana
| the market closed active and semi
demolalized, with prices for the most
part at the lowest. The &1mlVteuly
serious ill health of Queen Victoria
! caused unea5iness as TO the posslple
bad effects on foreign securities mar
kets which might be reflected mere
The bears also circulated reports taft-
erward shown to be groundiess) mat
President Mckinley had had relapse
with the grip, and the professional
speculative tactics were manifest III
other canards which were put a1oat.
At the opening CT the market there
] was an urgent demand for some OF the
steel stocks On the report that the FED
eral Steel Company would absorb the
Steel & Wire Company. Steel & Wire
! was advanced an extreme rs and Fed
eral Steel ~. Missouri Pacific, Wa
bash preferred and Debenture bonds
and Texas & Pacific were also strong
at advances Of 31s for Missouri PACING,
Wabash preferred 2. and Texas racine
11k. The violent break in Anaconda
and Amalgamatsd Copper had the first
un3attling influence on the market.
/ The weakness was attributed to London
selling OH account of the dull condi-
tons in lhe copper market. Anaconda
broke "a and AmalgGnate1 Copper
/ Az. Poth stocks rallied in sympathy
with the general strength of the mar
ket. In the fiIal break in prices de-
clines reached in Brooklyn Transit to
) points MetroC olitan Street Railway
4. Manhattan 33s, st. Paul ga, Missouri
Pacific 31a, Steel & Wire "a, Federal
Steel, Erie first and Sugar 212, North
, ern Pacific 23s, Rock Island 21s. and a
! large number of active stocks from /
to points. In face Of the stock mar
! ket liquidation, the enormous Increase
in the loan account Of the banks OF 81
841 600 was a disagreea5le shock to
speculative sentiment and served to Off
set the effect OF the cash gain of nearly
! $14 100000. There has been large plac-
ing of leans abroad during the week,
but special operations must be looked
to to help explain the loan item. The
| payment on account of the Panama
| Canal Company pul chase and large
, borrowings by one Of the great rail
road companies to carry purchases OF
stocks OF other railroad stocks made
! last year, are Supposed to account for
some part of the decrease.
| The stock market during the week
! has shown a state Of nervous apprehen-
| sion among spectators long of stock
! on a margin and a marked falling off
! in that general demand for stocks
| which afforded a sure market for so
! prolonged period OF extraordinary
activity in trading. The conviction
had steadily gained force that the
| prices reached by many stocks were
| influential and that the demand which
! lifted them to that point was purely
| speculative and was not butteressed by
| genuine requirements that would hold
| them the high level attained. From
/ technical point Of view tne market
| has given evidences of an over-eXtend-
| ed long account Stocks have been
| held however. with considerable de-
| termination and evidently there is an
| element that is still confident Of high
| er prices. The selling has been large
| ~ forced by the declines which the
| bear element has caused by manipula-
! ton, thereby uncovering stop loss ord
ers and dislodging long stocks. l'he
! bear tactics have been resisted by pow
| erful speculative interests, which have
| had supporting orders in the market.
| The bear element itself has been so
eager to anticipate the elimination Of
| the rise that they have kept the short
| account in the market very large. This
| is in itself a powerful sustaining factor
| and represents practical discounting
| Of the threatened liquidation. AS a
| consequence there are large buying
| orders to take profit for short account
| at even slight recessions in prices
which props the market and checks
| the declines. The bear leadership has
not been notably bold or aggressive up
to this time These influences have
served to Offset to degree the I'M
DERIVING weakness of the market. Va
rious Developments during the week
have demonstrated that speakers have
misplaced their confidence in mary ru-
mors that have been afloat. A sitting
process has begun of facts from fanCles
which leaves large residue OF uncon-
firmed, discredited and even disproved
statements, which have been the
ground in each case of large buying
Expected dividends or increase Of div
idends have not been forthcoming;
much heralded consultations have
been officially desclaimed and have in
each case left a heritage of disappoint-
ment and prospective loss. The iead-