The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-07-04
Volume of Business Transacted
Last Week the Low Record
of a Decade.
WAITING ON THE DEMOCRATS.
Politics and the Uncertain Out
come of Western Crops Fac
tors Which Tend to Keep
Trading Very Quiet.
REPTyBLIC

REPUBLIC SPECIAL
New York. July Stock speculation
came to a practical standstin in the week
just closed. The volume of business
transacted on the New York Stock Elk
change shrunk to the smallest amount in
a decade.
Prices drifted idly about within an ex-
tremely narrow range gaining nothing
and losing nothing. Generally speaking.
there was no motive or influence at work
moving prices in either direction. Pro-
fessional traders. who try to test which
way the tide of speculative sentiment is
running and follow it. found that they
had little to guide them. There was no
inducement for them to play the game
alone. for experience has proven that
there is neither profit nor pleasure in such
operation.
AS a result there were such changes as
a loss Of ~one-quarter point in Union Pacific
on sales of 2.O0O shares. the extreme range
for the week being one point: Atchison
and Southern Pacific travelled within a
range of fve-eighths and Pennsylvania
seven-eighths. St. Paul. United States
Steel and a dozen standard speculative ia
vorites were similarly unchanged.
With such results it could easily be in
ferred that the financial situation had not
changed one iota in the last week. There
were, however, c~ontributory causes for
the extreme depression in stock-market
operations. The proximity of the triple
holiday. covering a period of time in which
crop situations might be changed in a day,
produced an inclination to make no COM
mitments over the holiday. TIL bitter re-
membrance of the events which took place
in n sin tlnr holiday fhrna vaQrG 100 when
a whitening hot WING swept over the corn
fields of Kansas n Nebraska, blasting
in its path the verdure of the soil n
running nearly half the crop, were recalled
more wildly than otherwise, perhaps. be
cause of the Importance of the crops this
year as a factor in pulling business from
its tendency toward contraction.
In addition, purchases and sales OF Sc
~curities were very limited because of the
proximity of the Democratic National
Convention. the results of which nay ere
ate diStruSt in the future, or, on the con-
tIary, give confidence to the business COM
munity.
II was natural, therefore, that the dis
cSunting" by ms n ,, should nsr exhibit ,bs an conn m
pletion of these important developments.
Meantime the investment demand for
bonds continued with slightly decreased
The continuance of this inquiry for in
vestment issues has brought about a hope
full feeling in banking quarters. and has
contributed at the same time an element Of
strength to the stock market
Progress Of the crops, according to all
accounts, has been mainly favorable, with
certain notifications which lend additional
interest to the Governments monthly re-
port, which will be made public shortly.
AT present, neither a bounteous crop nor
relief from political disturbances In bust
ness are assured, n there is every like
lihood that %dullness. tempered with on
servatism, will be the prevailing feature
of the business world until some definite
line is obtained on the results OF these two
important factors.