New-York tribune., 1902-06-22
financial.
The Financial World.

| keI. received d COiiSlOeIaDlS setback Thurs
| day, through the heavy selling of the steel
I stocks The decline was soon recovered from.
but all the same. the forward progress Of the
| market was checked. and has so remained: so
! that closing prices yesterday were about the
! same the week before for the majority Of
! stocks. whereas there every promise from
/ the way things moving that they would
! show an appreciable advance over last weeks
/ quotations
| There is no getting away from the fact that
! the steel stocks are the vulnerable point Of the
list. They are enormous in bulk. and the pub
| lie have them If the traders attack them.
! prompted by some adverse event like The de-
/ cision of the New Jersey Court. it requires the
| buying OF ton to prevent at least tempo
! rary hammering down. When they fall. as they
| did under the selling of Thursday. the senti-
mental effect the market is bad. The de-
| cline is interpreted as indicating weakness on
the part Of the Morgan interests; and IT was
| quite what might have been expected that when
| these stocks came pouring the market
! rumors spread that Mr. Morgan was seriously
/ i'll. also that he was dead. AS a fact, most OF
| the selling must have been short stock because
| there was quick recovery before the close. when
! some supporting orders were put in The runor
! that Mr. Morgan was i'll. had, however, to be
| formally denied.
| It is difficult to see what good the plaintiffs
! can get out of their suits If they succeed-sup-
posing of course. that the suits are brought for
| some other purpose than that Of depressing the
stock The bonds will be issued anyway, and
! if the proposed conversion of preferred stock is
prohibited, the saving of dividend charges which
| would have followed the conversion is pre-
! vented. and the interest charges ahead OF all
the preferred stock are correspondingly IN
| creased. Allowing that IL was necessary TO
! raise the additional money, which no one seems
| to seriously contest, where the good comes in OF
blocking the proposed plan is not easy to see
| This seemed to be the general opinion, since on
| the decision being given there was large selling
| Of the stock. If the plaintiffs contention
sound, viz, that their interests as stockholders
| were injured by the proposed conversion, the
| legal blocking of it should have induced buying
| The matter is one which illustrates again the
| familiar fact. that however large the earnings
| of new enterprise may be. its stock in a free
| market must sell at level corresponding to the
! uncertainties incident to its unestablshed pO-
! stion and the public doubt which these
| gender. If the United States Steel Corporation
! had the sanction Of age. and could make the
| showing OF earnings which it Is making now. its
| stocks would be selling quite thirty points above
| their present level. 1t was just the same with
| the Sugar Company when it first came into
| Wall Street The spectators have to buy first.
| When the dividends Of such a corporation have
| come to be considered assured, the speculator
| sells out at q high level to the Investor
| Here is another Illustration the other way.
| The future Of the Reading company IS consd-
| cred assured; that is, large capitalists. either
! individuals or corporations, have become con-
| vinced Of the future value of the property. al
| though it is not now paying dividends on IT'S
common stock. They have bought this stock in
| large quantities. The consequence is. that in
! the face Of most formidable labor disturbances.
| cutting down present earnings and causing
| damage to the property, the stock has actually
! risen in market price The temporary losses
were really taken advantage of TO acquire stock
| more cheaply than il could otherwise have been
| bought At one time during the past weak.
| this non-dividend paying stock actually rose TO
I 6S and is only a little below this now, after
| the market has had it's chill from The decline in
/ the steel stocks.
! The Western men did some hard work on the
| bull side in the several stocks which are their
| favorites. Mr. Gates himself IS in Chicago
| where he is credited with cOrnering July corn
They advanced st. Paul as a leader; they were
/ the principal buyers Of Illinois Central IN ad-
| vance Of the announcement Of an issue OF stock
by that company. with rights" to stockholders.
| running UP the price about six points IN one
| day: they put up Union Pacific TO some extent
| making it cross 106; and they worked IN orner
| parts OF the market. The Atchison people were
| moderately active in their stocks but maze no
| attempt TO rush them up They are credlteu
| with asserting that the common will sell at par
| this year-but perhaps they might oe WlHins
| TO take 90 for 1t. The Gould party advahced
Missouri Pacific. keeping the stock wei IN lAS
| lead most of the week; and they seem 10 oe d
work also in the wabashes. Texas Pacific anu
4 small independent
bull pool is understood 10 be working IN 'He
X T stocks row among the insiders
in Colorado Fuel. accounts for drop m tna~
stock.
While these several parties are at WoFA' an
successfully so far advancing the , ma
quotations for their securities. the Hl1i'o
amount of the trading indicates that d ~
there is no public IN the narket-not enousH'
least, to broaden out the market ana sI'e
cent employment TO the commission i-0-
We are hoping this will come later, as it surey
will If the crops turn out as they promise O.
as to the labor disturbances, they are IN tn..'
nature temporary only, and the companies y
rectly affected are pretty well ofI- 1AeS 5
had some wears of substantial prosperity aN-
from the natural growth Of the coal trade nav
a we'll assured future
The Street has had time in the preVal--N0
quiet of business to extract consldeTao4e S4-'-
ment from the going on between a hu1iOs-
of smart gentlemen. lawyers and others "L.' :
the various gas and tobacco deals WHICH -
engaged public attention in the past See-
have been playing on each other the saINS
diamond cut diamond The gas deal. WhI0N
came first, evidently left enough behind 10 81
opportunity for a counter move in the toO@IN0
deal: so that those who had 10 divvy UP IN 'll'
first soreiy against their WILL could sur -
trouble when the same parties came at lne