The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-26
GOSSIP or WALL STREET.

other. Early In the week met q man whose
Judgment Of the market when he Ia looklns
over tho top OF the ticker Is very trustworthy
and asked him what he thought OF things
oh, I'm great bull. he said I think W,
are eolns directly Into the biggest speculs'
ton here that We have ever had In Wal
Street. ! met him again to- day. Just before
the MARKET closed, and when ! asked him
how II looked TO him he .aid very dubously
that II seemed little too wild. They nigh,
be overriding II. he thought. Now. there Ia
a bull who looking for the biggest speouls-
ton this year that has ever been seen in
Wall Street. and yet the moment that II seems
to be gettins under way he Ia scared. That's
because We are too olose TO tho ticker. Two
weeks ago people felt dubious about the
| market because there was so little pu bile
participation in the speculation; already
hear ultrnoonst rvatve comment because the
/ public seems - be coming In. The COM
mission houses do not become loaded up
! with stocks IN a " eek or in q fortnight. There
! Ia room for an enormous distribution OF stocks
| TO commission houses. as any broker will
( tell you. and when you ind that commission
houses are filled up then you may think Sc
rjously OF taking a position on the bear side.
when there Is big public speculation in tho
market you have simply got TO go with H.
There Ia no money In hghtins a market on
which the public Is become really bulllsh.
There are a great many sold out bulls who.
having taken their pronts. now insist upon
the market having Q good reaction, Some
havc followed ur their realizing with short
selling and they are reactionists OF the most
pronounced type,
Yesterdays short session on tn Stock
Exchange was perhaps the most strenuous
In the history OF that institution. Trans
actions exceeded $50. 900 shares. The open
ing was characterized by such advances
as 81 points In New York Central. ~ points
in Union Pacific. IL per cent. In Pennsyl-
vania and others Of !, TO per cent. irregu-
larly distributed through the active list.
On this extraordinary opening many traders
following the bull side dumped out their
stocks There was enormous speculative
realizing In tho nrst half hour in consequence
Of which prices receded sharply all around.
only 70 recover brskly in the eecond hour.
The heaviest trading carnc In tho last twenty
minutes. whom a number OF stocks made their
highest prices. At the close the ticker was
more than Ave minutes behind the market.
and II continued TO reel on the record OF trans
actions after trading had ceased. Net price
changes were very irregular. Union Pacific.
for example. lost all OF It's gain and closed un-
changed from Fridays final quotation. while
Pennsylvania, at a recession Of u per cent,
from its high point. closed with not gain OF
az points On the whole II would be ad-
mltted. perhaps. that the market showed
an enormous capacity for receiving stocks.
The selling from various speculative sources
was extremely heavy,
General speculative interest showed a
more pronounced inclination last week than |
at any time recently toward stocks In which |
II may be supposed the speculative possibli- |
ties have remained undeveloped list OF |
these would not only include such low priced |
stocks a. Steel common. the Wabash securi- |
ties. Rock Island common. Southern Rail
way common. Erie common and others of |
the class. but also some higher priced stocks |
which have been out OF line with the mar j
ket, The movement. for example. in Penn |
sylvanlR. which began toward the end OF the /
week, must appeal to o large body OF specu- |
lative sentiment. owing to tho wide dstribu- /
tion OF the stock. Speculative Interest In !
Pennsylvania is always responsive The !
stock had been huctuatng narrowly on the |
level OF lao for some time and was being !
pointed out as one Of the prominent laRgards
Missouri Pacific might be mentioned as an
other example OF conspicuous laRgard. |
movement In that stock would doubtless
be very popular.
campaign in the Southern Railway COM
mon has been expected for some time 10 |
ia another stock that appeals widely to out
side sentiment. II Is. besides. a low priced
stock answering to the general description |
OF that class Of securities In which the shrewd-
est judges OF the market are expecting to
see the big general speculation Of this year
There was some question about yester-
days bulge In Rock Island common 10 II
being Of the right origin. The stock has had
such bulges before and the market has after
ward Hattened out abruptly. The Moore
crowd Ia stil said to be inactive In the Rock
Island securities. !
over q range OF little more than per
cent Union Pacific moved erratically back
and forth, showing at one moment the effects
Of heavy realizing and at another the renewal
n that buying demand which has carried
the stock 10 this level In the expressive
OF traders. more big money has
been made in Union Pacific by followers
Of the movement who simply believed and
sat s;n than In any other campaign OF recent
years. Nearly the whole strength OF the
,emi- professional speculation In Wall Street
has converEed at times upon that one stock
Ind traders alone no doubt have bought and
'oid the entire capital several times over
since the FIRST OF the year, From the specu-
alive point of view II has been a remarkably
Inc campaign. None surprising II for
'klful management ia now recalled And
yet very lew professional traders nave been
Greatly enriched by It, They have fought
t and scalped il by turns Extensive specu-
alive holdings have been closed out on this
evel by persons who. while still believing
n the stock. have found tho temptation TO
AXE profits irresistible. The stock has not
lad good setback since II crossed i2s
There 10 no end Of comment on the ARsard
behavior OF the Southern PRclfcs
Rsturns TO the New York Stock Exchange
how that conversions OF Union Pacific bonds
INTO stock from Feb. II 10 Feb ~ amounted
o ~. 72V. 900 reducing the remaining amount
4 convertible bonds 10 300 al. 900 and increAs-
ng the amount OF Union Pacific stoot out
tandlng to p36.7s2o 900. This is by far the
Ieaviest conversion that has taken place In
my one week since the movement began.
Two weeks ago an operator whose judg-
nent Ia highly respected was asked. on the
We OF his departure for a vacation. what In
is opinion were the things that would best
ewsrd watching In the market. There arc
wo things that should watch very closely.
e said. One Is tho speculation in the Steel
tooks II these stocks are turned In earnest
o the bull side Of the market IL will greatly
timulate general interest and should lead,
think. to q broader and more genuine speou-
,tion in other directions prinolpally in thu