The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-19
WALL STREET REVIEW
PRICES HARDENED IN WEEKS FL
 NAL TRANSACTIONS.
Fever In Southern Pacific subsided ana Freedom from Pressure Relieved List from Sympathetic sagg-
 ing Tendency.

ing Tendency.
 New York June 1S.-The final trans actions of the week in the stock mar ket hardened prices slightly but the nificance. The fever in Southern Pa cific subsided and the freedom from pressure of that stock relieved the ging tendency present since the prefer red stock issue was announced.
 Weather in the crop regions contin ued favorable and the money supply IS so ample for all demands that there IS little pressure upon the market in the absence of any positively bad develop ments. Southern Pacific made lan- iy all of it just at the close. An in- crease of s111.000 in Missouri Pacific gross earnings for the second week Tn June may. explain the recent advance m that stock but 1t had little effect on today's movement. AmalgamatedC cop per gained point on the strength or the reports of recent large sales of cop count. The very conservative tone of the mercantile agency reviews as 10 the general course of trade had a rep resentative effect on the speculation in earnings for April shows the effects Of trade inactivity grain and cotton movements. the backward season, the and wet weather in the Southwest. But it is pointed out that the propor-- tion of the average decrease in net earnings is small compared with the successive increase for eight or ten years past. Total sales of bonds, par value ss05,oo0 The dealings in the stock market have been rather larger wider, giving the market an appear ance of greater animation. The fiuctu- ations have been both upward and downward and the general level of
 Arfn hoG anf ia n last week Business has been congest- ed in a few stocks influenced by special causes and the sharp upward movement in those has helped the general mar ket. The most notable of these special movements was that in the Union Pa cific and Southern Pacific as an effect of the plan for the new stock to be authorized to the amount of $100.00o,- 900 and to be issued at once to stock holders at par to the amount of $40.- 100000 to have per cent dividends edge of this plan became public by piecemeal. the first reports being with out official confirmation. The result was some skepticism in the stock mar ket where the project was a total sur prise and much doubt and confusion as to the merits and effects of the plan. Opinion on the subject was not definite market continued much unsettled in consequence, Its importance and its probable large influence on the market were undenlaDle owing 10 the maBnl- tude of the operations if for no other cause. The relative advantages or disadvantages to Union Pacific. the | parent company, and to Southern Pa with vary effect on those two stocks Very generally the conclusion was reached that the plan was a sort of compromise between the general re- pected from Southern Pacific for ma turing and underlying mortgage and | to provide for immediate additional company needs, and the device so com monly employed of late by railroad corporations of issuing snort time notes for current capital needs. Con- the Notation of a large bond issue not withstanding the recent evidences of the improvement in the market demand for railroad bonds. The privilege re- preferred stock at 115 for five years >af- i ter July 1905. points to 1t as intended for temporary expedient with the re- funding bond probability on the first was inclined to imply a superior ad- vantage for Union Pacific in the plan which Union Pacif1c's control of South ern Pacific made 1t responsible for Southern Pacihc's large floating in- ldebtedness to the parent company for advances for improvements and Union stock made the parent company a ben efcary both of the new stock subscrip- tion privileges and of the proceeds of the sale. On the other hand its large | holdings of Southern Pacific make 1t a l larger sharer in any disadvantage to the company. The disadvantage of an authorized stock issue, entitled to ST. | 000.000 annual earnings in priority to the common stock claims. although | carrying a common stock privilege to subscribe at par to the preferred proved rather formidable to holders of South ern Pacific and 1t was freely sold. The | divergent movement in Union Pacific and Southern Pacific became less mark ed after the first announcement of the plan was a cause of much unsettlement of speculative sentiment. Other spe- cial movements were unexplained by new developments. The firm undertone of the market was attributed to the promising condition of the crops which had favorable weather conditions du- ring the week.
 A favorable outcome of the years crop is universally considered the es- sential factor in the future of the mar ket Reports of railroad earnings for the week and official opinions on the prospects for improvement did not offer much encouragement to buy stocks. | The passage of the dividend on Minne- | apolis and St. Louis common and the reduction of the dividend on Lake Erie the poor showings of net earnings for the June quarter partly estimated. of the Vanderbilt railroads were leading incidents in this field Their effect on small. The settlement of the strike of the vesselmen on the Great Lakes was gratifying to market sentiment The heavy falling off in the May trade bal 9nce In our favor was not For the present the money supply continues fairly redundant. Iron and steel trade conditions continue unsatisfactory and offer no stimulation to the market. A marked improvement in the investment demand for railroad bonds Is reported by various authorities. only particular ly reflected in the actual dealings on the stock exchange. Municipal bonds also snare Tn tnis lmpr9vement which
 first profit disbursements. The quick subscription to the $1O,O0o,OOO New York Central debenture bond issue made good impression. U. S. 2s. the old As a registered and the new Is advance Is and the old As coupon 1-4 per cent on call during the week.