The times., 1901-06-17
STOCK MARKET COMMENT
Stagnant Conditions Looked fer
During This Summer.

The Poor Bank statement and Its
Causes - The Foreign Trade Re
furns-Tmports Incr"n~'n:r - Nhrs't
C-o.. outIooIS Abroad.
NEW YORK, June t6.-The gossip in
tf,e slreet :ad II the Waldorf Astoria and
other Iounging places of the speculative
fraternity is mostly OF dull summer in
rrosps ct in the stock market This kind
Of market is expected by bulls and bears
alike. Those that expect hirher prices
say that the summer viii sec little i any
decline. and that later in the year The
advance will begin again. The beats tax
OF a gradual sag in prices this summer
and q decline Of Importance when money
D, gins to leave New York in the autumn
to move the crops
The news OF the past week has not
been OF great Importance to the street
The bank statement of a week ago can
celcd one-third Of the outstanding sur
plus reserve: Yesterdays statement can
GELS more than a third OF what was left.
last weeks shrinkagc Of four ana haJ
millions stiH leaves the surplus at re-
Specialize sum, though il is barely orc
hair The amount reported a year $50.
aud falls even further short Of any other
year since GSG. But Il is probably enough.
50 leuE SIS the bank liability account is
not strained too far. Just row. that 2c-
count is being taxed zoo heavily, when
loOns. after last weeks iuCveSSC Of S-I.-
U33rt3. expand Sl2.Nt1 A'1 more this week
il is quite possible th5g- IS the stock eN-
change community believes. most af
these heavy loans are temporary matters,
which Will ba EQuidayed when the ''noJa-
Uon" Is cHected. on the other hand. the
experience Of the last year or SO has
shown that community Of interests and
accumulating bank liabilities have gone
hand in hand
II there is truth in the current rumOrs
about ST. Paul stock, this is in progress
now. ST. Paul rose nearly points further
on yesterdays market, contributing
nearly one-fifth OF the days business II
really made up the whole OF the market.
Except for the advance in this and
few stocks sympathetlcally disposed, no
changes OF consequence occurred
Yesterdays publication by the Treasury
Of the complete returns of our foreign
trade last month completes the week
very interesting series OF side HShts on
the commercial situation. The export
trade for May shows up about as had
been expected: that is 70 say. as against
the l04g5,c9 increase in agricultural eX-
ports reported Wednesday, the total out
ward trade has expanded SI,l9JUJJ. The
inference is, of course, that export OF
manufactures. compared with year ago,
is stationary. This is however. a better
showing than that of April, in which
month the shipment OF manufactures de-
creased S5-9QG03 from l93o-the amounts
shipped out in april and Nay last year,
being nearly equal
More novel and immediate interest at
taCh6S TO last month : import trade re-
turns whose total is very iaE5c Not
only did PURCHASES from foreign notions
run seven millions beyond 1tt1- az SO.
bat with four exceptions they gre E- uch
the largest of any month in American bis
tory OF those exceptions, three we're the
months of Ding!ey 5 'antlcip8tgIy lmpor-
tations in 1tY1, and one was March Of
1893, when The hasty rushing of English
goods on the market. in the last hour
before the collapse OF American demand,
raised imports to the abnormal sum OF
Ss5, 5,UtI G.u. The rapid expansion OF the
trade last month Is the more matter
for careful study, in view of the fact that
ApTil's classified figures showed the
whole increase, that month, and more, To
have been caused by imports classed by
the Treasury as articles Of voluntary
use. luNUrieS, etc.
Friday fan in wheat TO the low price
Of the year was an event Of some gener-
al financial interest That the probabil-
itE of a crop shortage for Europe. as
whole, IS recognized abroad. this week
very heavy buying at Chicago for the eN-
port trade IS witness. Nevertheless. in
the face Of this foreign buying, the out
look for a very large home crop has
served as il usually does al this season.
T. hurry the farmers into disposing be-
{0rehaBd OF their growing grain. The fac
tor of doubt abroad is Russia. whose crop
Situation Is rarely known with accuracy,
and which has way Of suddenly upset
ting ali calculations Of the experts
Last year Europe produced the small
est wheat crop except for the famine
season 1897. iu at least five years. Aus
tria, France. and England being Jhc chief
sufferers Russia yielded an average crop.
but its 1903 harvest nevertheless Iell 80.
lGJg59 bushels below the Er-at wheat crop
of 1885. With such d record in its history,
and with its harvest promise just now APP
parentiy most favorable. il is not strange
that AT least some doubt should exist as
70 whether American exporters Will De
called upon 10 supply the deficiency OF
Germany : ruined crop. II is altogether
fortunate this being true. that Chicago
prices should be kept at a reasonable
level