The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-01
WALL STREET. REVIEW
BANK STATEMENT ONLY NEWS
 OF THE DAY.
Even It Was Accepted With Languid 1nterest, Owing to Belief it Was Not Accurate Showing
 Of Conditions.

New York April ao--The bank state lnent was the only news of the day with any important bearing on the stock mar .erest. Thts was partly due to the feel ing that the statement was not an accu- rate showing of actual conditions. An increase, although small one. in the cash item of the banks in the week of trn largest gold export on record, Is anomaly in itself. It is partly explained oy the fact that the statement does not reflect the B. 10000 shipment of gold that red over into next weeks statement Even allowing for this, the cash reserve is more than sz200o,000 better than was estimated from the known movements of as the explanation of the discrepancy. The increase in the loan item was not greater than expected in view of the weeks railroad note issues. Further is- sues are expected and the placing of the ss7 7.ooo. 900 New York City joan Is expected t. affect the loan item still further. It IS also generally belicged that the outgo ol gold up to this time. except the Nor gan shipment that went today is for other purposes than the Panama Canal pay ment. the principal portion of which. therefore, remains to be provided for. The details of the operation are still somewhat obscure to the Wall Street mind. occasionally the manner of the ac- tuaI withdrawal of government deposits from the banks and of gold from the treasury and their immediate Judgment. This uncertainty was one of the factors in the stasnation of the days stock mar sket The price movements of any inter- est were confined to specialties. Local bond sales, par value. s997,000.
 There has been no sign of life in the investment demand for stocks this week and prices have drifted sluggishly under the small operations of habitual traders. The ease and abundance of money keeps the market free from any pressure of sell ing to nF0ruTa cash and those who are not obliged to sell have every incentive to keep their offerings off the market. in view of it's small power Of absorption. At the same time the abundant facilities in the money market have proved no inducement to operators to accumulate stock for speculative pur- poses as doubt and uncertainty over the future offers no assurance of profits. The market is highly deadlocked in conse- Quence. While money resources are abundant this fact in itself is a cause of anxiety over tho business prospects. The enormous accumulation in the reserve centers argue a decline in the accom- plishment of money in trade. This indi- cation is strengthened by the reports of mercantile agencies which show backward demand in many lines and disinclination to enter on future commitments. The slack demand for commodities and the lessened output by producers Is still at- tributed in large part to the lateness of the season, the continued cold weather decreasing the demand for merchandise. The weeks exports of gold which have reached record, have not caused a rip- plS in the money market and no obstruc- ton to the movement by rise in interest rates is indicated at present It is con sidered proba ble, therefore, that practi- caily all of the S40,O0oO00 payable to the Panama Canal stockholders will go out fn gold. The movement of gold towards Paris. in view of the large resources ai- ready at hand there strengthens the con victfon that the issue of a large Russian loan there is imminent But the money market here with its plethoric condition Is rot without its perplexities and ano- malies. The problem of the ultimate dis position of the heavy floating indebted ness of corporations which has been put in the form of notes. Is cause of con- stant consideration. The volume of these notes has been added to by several new issues during the week. all of them at Interest rates we'll above the prevailing rate for ordinary loans. The huge de- posit figures on the New York banks and the record level of loans are connected with those note issues. which are the con- spicuous feature of the time in the finan- cia' world. In many cases the collateral for these notes are bond issues which were designed to supply needed capital requirements but which it was found im- pcssible to make the desirable terms. It Is the commonly accepted opinion that the opinion cf thece notes will coincide witk the usual marketing of securities by which they are prepared or by others TOT the funding the notes so that they arc regarded as representing a prior claim on whatever supply of capital for investment may offer in the future. The charges carried by these notes and which will be fixed by future funding opera tions will come ahead of stocks and of some other securities now dealt in the market. The fact of this Is not helpful to stocks and is aggravated by the pro- nounced declining tendency of railroad earnings Present returns of railroad traffic fail to show the pressure on re- sources which the vast Improvements en- tered upon were designed to relieve. It Is pointed odt that these partly complet- ed improvements must, however. be car ried out to avoid loss on expenditures al- ready made. But the benefits to accrue to the properties are not so confidently ception. The discussion of the dividends prospects of United States Steel preferred was stimulated again on account of the less favorable conditions reported in the iron and steel markets railroad earnings remain at a level below last year. Ad- vices from the crops were not sufficient ly favorable to stimulate any demand for stocks. The growing warmth of political discussion heralding the approach of the Presidential campaign. is having it's usual influence towards conservatism in the markets
 Bonds have been dull but prices were steadily maintained. United States new fours advanced one-quarter per cent on call during the week.
 NEW YORK STOCK LIST.