The Saint Paul globe., 1905-02-22
union PACIFIC
Up FOUR POINTS
tennessee Coal, Copper and
fractions the Most Active
on the Stock List

NEW YORK, Feb. 21.-The onera tiors
III todays stock market We're of char
acler 10 encourage the hope long deferred
VI an actlVe energy into the market of the
puollc at large. The principal share il,
the market hitherto has been attributad
to professional operators inclnd;ng tba
usual contingent of board room traders.
and a more influential element of wealthy
men VINO make campaigns In the stock
market on a large scale and who com
nand almost boundless resources for all
ihe operations incidental to such a cam
paign. " NS''ii
The success which has attended tbasa
operations is of course based ON ,e1a,.'I
coincidence in the prosperity of general
cohultlons and confident investment de-
nidiiu' whlch buttresses the market bv q
waiting demand on all recessions Rut
tne nope OF the professional contingent.
Which mas been booming stocks. has look
eu loIgingly forward to an outbreak of a
speculation of much wider scope than is
lnVolVed In such operations as these and
Grafton ~ " SCH
Panic of 1901
Such movement has already occurred
~ ~ tnls generation and it eliminated in
the panic of May. 1901. The unfortunate
issue OF that experience brought severe
punishment that seemed to serve as a
warning 10 the whole public and to dis
IN the benefits of the long advance which
mas occurred in the present stock mar
Eel, heI, Inc demand for stocks from this
source up to this time has been entirely
nconSplcuouS, but evidences were mn
mis- taxable today that the public was
coming freely into the market The tide
Oh the buying demand had all of the i'm
presslve sweep OF periods of widespread
speculation and the movements were
characteristically lacking in special news
10 explain them The only news which
N a1x- IL.
price. Whenever this occurred il was
sure to be followed quickly by a surginec
demand which churned the particular
STOCK affected into violent activity and
buoyancy. All news was favorabIy inter-
preted. or If that was not feasible. was
ignored.
Union Pacific Makes New Top
Union Pacific was the sensation of the
market and was carried irresistibly to
record price level The previous record
or 1873 was touched in May 1901, during:
the period of buying of the stock in re-
faliatlon taI. for the campaign by its owners
Tor control of Northern Pacific. Informa-
ton from well informed sources precluded
the idea that anything like a corner i'm the
stock was threatened Equally well in
formed authorities deprecated the talk
that any plan was in progress looking to
a change in the status of the company.
Banking interests near to the company
were authority for the opinion that the
movement was purely due to specula ton
in the stock
An even more violent price movement
was that in Slcss Sheffield steel, which
was jumped up over 20 points. Rumors
were plenty of a coming merger of South
ern iron companies. Storm blockadeS and
holding of cotton are forcing down the
earnings of railroads in the southwest,
but that group was conspicuous for
strength in the days movement. The re-
ported abandonment of rate legislation for
this session of congress, the hope that the
New Haven labor trouble is to be arbi-
trated and the belief that the war of rates
on export grain will soon be terminated
were minor influences in keeping up the
demand.
But the overriding factor was the
growth and spread of speculative excite
ment, which brings increasing crowds of
buyers into the market Buying of this
character without d reason why. swept
prices irresiStibly to a-higher level. That
advantage was taken of the advent of
public buying to secure profits on an
enormous scale was evident from the oc-
casional unsettlement of the market. The
closing itself was rather irregular, but the
general character of the days highly
speculative market was not altered by this
fact.
Bonds were steady, but were not so
active as stocks. Total sales par value,
S.. .035, 900 United States bonds were all
unchanged on call.