Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-10
POLITICS CUT NO FIGURE
No Unsettling Developments in Election to
Effect the Stock Market
PERIOD OF LIQUIDATION NOT OVER YET
Boom in Real Estate One of Most
Notable Conditions I'm che Finan-
cIaI W OrId-Monetary Con-
dition improves.

NEW YORK, Nov. 9.-(special Henry
Clews in his weekly Wall street letter
says:
The elections had little effect upon the
stock market. Fortunately there were no
unsettlng developments, although the de-
cline in republican majorities was inter
preted in some quarters as an expression
Of dissatisfaction at that party's hardness
in legislation affecting the TOUR leading
questions OF the day-reciprociry, currency,
trusts and the tarlf. Congress will open
in about three weeks, and usually this Is a
period OF uncertainty pending some idea Of
the legislative program. The coming ses-
sion, however, will be a short one, expiring
March 4, and no very important legislation
need be expected, especially in view of the
approach OF a presidential election, when
all such questions will be reserved for
campaign oratory. In the political out
look, therefore, there is nothing disturbing
for the immediate future.
While anxiety on this score has been re-
moved there Is still a very pronounced
spirit of caution in financial ~cirIles. rhis
idea that the crest of the boom has been
reached and that we are now undergoing a
partial hnaneiaI reaetion,sn outcome per-
months past. With so many strong inter-
ests committed to plans which compelled
allegiance to the long side of the market
admission OF such opinions, of course,
comes slowly; but with the steady c%urtail-
ment of credit facilities, forced by their
practical exhaustion, the facts cannot
longer be concealed,
More Liquidation Coming.
Very considerable liquidation has already
taken place, and more must follow. For
tunately, the situation Is under strong con-
troll, the pubic being practically out of
stocks, and contraction falls chiefly upon
those best able to bear It instead of upon
a multitude of small holders whose de-
moralization. would only invite more serious
difficulties. Many of the losses Will be ON
paper and will tall upon big holders who
tailed in more than partially dtsposing of
their original holdings in newly created
corporations, We stun have a vast mass
of undtgested newly made railroad and in
dustriaf securities-some held privately.
some held by strong syndicates controlling
trust companies and banking institutions
and 1t is this weight upon the market that
prevented a further rise. At lower prices
a new set of buyers might. be found, but
prosperity has been fully II not over dis
counted, and Wall street always anticipates
events and movements-it never follows.
As repeatedly pointed out in these adyices
the principal causes of reaction are inor-
rates, declining profits in business. an un-
signs of reaction in the iron trade, the ag-
gressive attitude of labor and an over
supply, of new securities which cannot be
late boom has been complicated in many
respects by extraordinary new develop
has also developed striking points of SINH
larity with preceding boom periods.
Boom in Real Estate.
Modern history has always given the iron
trade the credit of being the truest baro-
meter of business conditions, and TO-DAY II
is still the best index of both the present
and the future. Again, all great eras of
prosperity have been capped by
activity in real estate, which, usually being
the safest and least profitable of invest
ments. is generally the last to rise. Today
cihc, is undergoing one of the most extra
ordinary real estate booms that have ever
been witnessed, differing from its predeces-
sors only in the fact that thus far IL has
been more substantial than they. Still, 1t
is evident that building is about reaching a
point beyond the requirements of even our
marvellous growth. It is not necessary, to
multiply evidences of this sort to show that
the top has been reached, for the present at
least, and that the path OF safety now lies
in retrenchment.
Fortunately, there is no cause for anxiety.
The necessity for conservatism is now so
fully appreciated and acted upon that the
danger of a crisis Is past. GOOD crops assure
another season of business activity and
this has unquesttonably saved us from I'M
pleasant consequences.
Monetary Condition Improving.
The monetary situation is steadily inn
proving and this is cause for reassur-
ance. Gold exports have not commenced,
and a larger outgo of agricultural products
is about due and should defer an efiux of
the precious metal for a period, although
our large borrowings abroad; which &C the
to force gold shipments when settlement
day arrives. Large sums of money are still
locked up in syndicate operations, and this,
coupled with the financing of important
deals and the activity of general business,
is likely to keep funds IN limited supply Mt
firm rates, at least until currency returns
from the interior after crop requirements
are over. For the present the market seems
likely to drift wnw The short side OF
the market appears to be the most popular
just now, but the bears lack leadership
and excessive selling might easily produce
sharp reactions since stocks are closely
concentrated in strong hands. Good stocks
offer very fair trading opportunities,
though no real bull movement can be ex-
pected until monetary conditions improve
or a fresh start can be made at a lower
level.