The Washington times., 1901-10-04
Government bonds.

|
. | yesterday, two or three new securities III
this group joining the already weii-de-
1 fined movement. Toward the end OF the
s ! session the persistent selling Of the stocks
q | had marked effect on the railway list
= as well and at the close the net losses
I for the day were very general. The
market was extremely dull for the most
5 part. however, owing to the yacht race
o parity, and in such market il is not
- safe to say that the small movements
!, made are indicative Of anything in par
u ticular. 1t is not to be denied however,
that the many recent breaks in the in
8 dustrials and the failure of the railway
e | securities to do more than hold their own
fairly well have caused some uncasiness
. : everywhere. and even some approach to
panic among small holders of stocks. A
Y ! sharp break of three or four points may
be the result of these conditions during
e the next two or three days.
The bears very l-..IeII1.:- - -
hard for such a break and with ede ne.
OF a little selling Of long stock by
| disgusted or frightened holders they may
| not have much trouble IN causing II. The
| attitude of the large inside interests viii
determine the matter IL they show the
have exhibitefa IeceptlyI it swQuId seem
1 entirely likely that lower level VIII be
j seen. If on the other-hand they show
the slightest inclination to support the
market the bears will be likely to retreat
| IN hurry and a rally may occur at ahy
! time. These are the technical marke: con-
ditions, almost entirely apart frosl the In
the lndustrials and the pcSra stdIeIneLIs 1as,iIs
put out by a number of these companies
may mean as to actaaI business c coHuI-
| tions, in a large w@y remains to be seen.
! As to this opiniehs continue to differ
! The first assumption regarding such a
! break ar has occurred naturally is that
| ii reFects poor condition generally in
| the manufacturing business of the coun
| NY In the absence of official reports, and
when the insiders have all the advantage
of advance knowledge regarding earnings
and prospects, breaks in industrial securi-
ties are always suggestive of this and of
inside selling. AS matter of fact a |
coming decline in business conditions is |
usually preceded by such weakness in |
such stocks. On the other hand it is quite |
true that much of the recent weakness |
in this group has been caused by short /
selling, persisted in by clever professional |
manipulators, and it is quite possible that |
the real inside selling has not been i'm |
portant enough to be considered indica- |
tive of any general condition.
The break in Peoples Gas yesterday |
illustrates this latter point. 1t is well |
understood among well informed people !
that this company is making an excellent |
showing, increasing its business and its
profits steadily. No bad business condi-
tions can be conceived to have hurt it.
And yet its decline in price yesterday was
very like that in Sugar early this week
and in Copper last week There can be
very little doubt that the stock wa sold
short by shrewd professionals, nol only
might be in the sales, but also b ,ause /
of the effect that the break would have
on the general market. The stock broke
from 105s4 high to l02z low and closed
near the bottom. II was said that the
selling was partly in sympathy with the
weakness in Brooklyn Rapid Transit, the
two securities being held largely by the
same interests in New York.
The other industrials that Joined the
downward procession yesterday were the
Rubbers, the Leather securities, Smclters,
Tennessee Coal and Iron, and, to certain
extent, the Steel stocks Sugar held its
own. Amalgamated Copper did the same.
The weakness in the Car% Foundry stocks
continued, the preferred getting ,ow as
a fraction under 50 and the common as
low as 25jk. The closing prices on the lat
ter securities were at the bottom. There
was little news regarding any of these
companies. A positive denial of the story
that the Car Foundry and Pressed Steel
Car Companies are to be combined was
given out. IT was said that the rubber
business is falling of badly.
With regard to the sugar business. it is
said that the recent talk of heavy losses
for the trust on it's supply of raw sugar
ulatcd is 1-25 cents a pound above that of
raw. wide margin and one that allows
SOM. loss on the decline in price Of the
raw sugar on hand, but 1t will be more
than made up, it is said, by the cheapness
Of refined sugars is kept up.
The Steel stocks held their own fairly
well during the greater part of the day,
but sold of at the close, the common get |
ting down to 43 and the preferred to g37s.
Several reasons for the comparative
strength OF these stocks are apuareut
he fact that the steel trade is in excel
lent condition, no matter what may be
the situation elsewhere, and that the
earnings Of the company during its first
half year were quite up to the best eX-
pectations, Is the best Of reasons for
optimism regarding the securities at their |
present prices. This prevents selling by
the public and 1t the same time causes |
some new buying of long stock. The SUD
port Of the stocks by the insiders Is per
haps quite as potent an influence IT has
Ci ct II two ways. IT gives confidence tC |
the holders Of The stock and il frightcns
the bears away
The granRers and the Pacific securi-
ties were the best Of the railway list
In the main they held their own ana the
few declines were only fractional At
Gibson was sold heavily, but there we're !
purchasers for all the stock offered and |
with 10 concession in prices. Paul Nor
ton. Vice President of the system reitcr- {
ated his statement yesterday thai ne /
believes the earnings this year will be | .
larger than they were last; He said that !
will more than offset the loss in corn ton
mage. He denies that the California fruit |
business has been small this summer and |
states that freight rates are being upheld
fairly well
The fact is announced officially that the
AtchisOn will send its Pacific business
over the Pacific Mail lines hereafter.
Naturally this has given rise to rumors
that the Atchison and the Southern Pa
cinc are to enter into closer relations |
on land, but there is little to support the
story.
Rock island. Atchison. Burlington,
Union Pacific and St Louis and San
francisco are the lines that will be most
affected by the shortage in the corn crop.
Officials Of nearly all these lines have
come out with very positive statements
that they do not expect the earnings
Of the companies to be any less than they |
were last year. President Yoakum, of the
last named system. while not quite so |
positive as some Of the others. is certain
~ not discouraged. He said yesterday: !
The corn crop in the territory served by
our road was a partial failure II Is too |
early TO say, however. whether Increases |
in other kind of traffic viii offset losses |
on agricultural products. The country Is |
prosperous and the farmers IN cur part |
OF the country are optimistic The Gin {
cinnati Price Current" says that the indi- |
cations now are for corn crop up to re )