The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-04
STOCKS AND BONDS.
The whole Market Closes Active and
Weak at the Decline.

Weak at the Decline.
New York, Oct. 3.-The opportunity
was taken to-day for an overhauling
and a REIMBURSEMENT generally of cur
rent quotations for industrial stocks.
An extensive assortment came under
the public review of the professional
traders on the exchange who went sys-
tematically through the whole list
with a testing process of what is called
offering down" If no purchaser was
forthcoming for a stock at the last
quoted price 1t was offered at a sue
cessively lower price until the making
of a purchase fixed the new price
level.
The results of this process demon
strate a. barrenness of the public APP
petite for these securities which is
revelati to many persons who have
been impressed with the quoted prices
ruling in the market. These prices i'll
many cases were made during the Pc
Rod of active speculation, when pur-
chasers could be attracted by the
mere device of a sudden advance IN
market quotations. Actual transactions
in a number of the securities have been
few and far between for many months
past. To-day's operations revealed the
fact that the supporting orders, which
were kept in these stocks while there
was any hope of outside purchases had
been entirely Withdrawn and the quo
tations crumbled away into fragments
under the Offering down process above
mentioned Some of the sufferers in the
various movements were affected by
specific developments, such as declin-
ing earnings and actual or threatened
new competition, but the whole class
of stocks was too generally anected Tor
any explanation to suffice except one
of general application. OF course the
results amount to a clear demonstra-
ton that ruling prices have been the
result of fragrant manipulation.
In stocks to which this applies, the
mere fact of the cessation of the man.
ipulation is sufficient explanation, with
out regard to developments effecting
the actual value of the properties. The
severe speculative losses caused by the
recent collapse in the price of Anal
ganated Copper is probably the inn
mediate cause of the spirit of distrust
engendered against the industrials as
a class, and especially against the
most notable offenders in the policy of
concealment of earnings, expenses and
even of assets. The action of the Unit
ed States Steel Corporation on Tues
day in publishing a statement of
monthly net earnings induced feel
ing that other industrials must follow
suit or suffer loss of confidence. Senti-
ment was affected also by some recent
destructive criticism of the plans of or
garization and capitalization of a mum
Der of minor Industrial companies.
Fears of legislative attack and the
general apprehension of excessive over
capitalization as rule were elements
in the results. A Statement of the ex-
IRENE declines recorded will serve to
complete the story of the day. These
were: National Salt I5H; no sales of
the preferred, but quoted at 5000 at
the closing compared with the previous
sale of 721s; International Power 12M;
New York Air Brake. ~; Glucose 6A:
United States Rubber preferred 5:
Rubber common 3h; National Lead
preferred, 81; American Smelling, 3A;
Tennessee Coal and Peoples Gas 3. The
list of industrial stocks which lost
from ] to is too long for specification
here. The railroad list was extremely
dull and rather sluggish, but IL is sig
nificant of the spirit of the speculation
that New York, Chicago and st. Louis
second preferred relapsed 81 points,
the common 81 and the other Wander
bits from to 2 after their recent man
ipulative movement. The whole market
closed active and weak, after showing
some resistance during the day to the
weakening effect of the industrials
Railroad bonds were irregular Total
sales par value 1890, 900. United States
bonds were all unchanged on the last
call.
Total sales of stocks to-day were
300 shares, including: Atchison, ST.
000 Manhattan, $500; Reading. 9,40O:
st. Paul, 1900; Southern Pacific $500:
Southern Railway, 800; Union Pacific
10000; Amalgamated Copper $4,000;
American Car and Foundry. $500; Ma
tional Lead, 800; Peoples Gas, rs 300:
Sugar. $4,000; Brooklyn Transit, %, 400:
United States Leather, $500; United
States Rubber, $500; United States
Steel, $4,000: United States Steel pre-
ferred, 1850.