The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-26
.Sl8I LHT SEEMS GREATLY CONFUSED Readings Course Has PrOduc- ed Unusual Situation ERIE MAKES SMALL BREAK Business DwindIed In the Late Session and the Closing Hour Was the
 DuIlest of the
 Day.
ERIE MAKES SMALL BREAK

New York, August 25.-The confused sentiment in the stock market today was manifested from the very outset. The tone was irregular throughout and trad ing was narrow and professional. Yes terday's movement in Reading produced a feeling of fear which was but partially alleyed by the protestations of the oper- ators responsible for the movement. Readings course has created technical situation such as the market has not known in several years, but any sugges- tive of corner is alarmingly remines- cent Another matter which called for serious reflection was the late news re- garding the status of the Russo-Japanese peace negotiations. It was generally be- lieved in the best financial circles that the situation had at least reached a most critical stage. The short interest in the market was not slow to seize upon the opportunities thus presented.
 Interest naturally centered around Reading, which opened at a fractional de- cline. but speedily recovered. It's move ments during the day, however were Illustrative of the markets general tone. Following It's early recovery the stock made gain of 1ss only to fall 22 points below it's closing price of yesterday. The market became feverish with declines of 1 to points in number of the more active issues. including Union Pacific
 Louisville and Nashville, Northern Pacific and Northwestern. Commission houses had an abundance of selling orders and some of the best known brokerage firms were open sellers of the active list. This was especially true of Union Pacific, which was carried down over 2 points with scarcely a halt Most of the sell ing of Reading came from the same sources. The break in Erie caught many stop loss orders and there was an all around unloading of weak bull accounts
 Tn spite of the heavy selling of Amal- gated Copper much of 1t seemingly for Boston account. the stock yielded only a point. but recovered with the announce ment of yet another advance in the price of the metal. At different times the mar ket was extremely dull and showed al- most an utter absence of support. New York Central. Baltimore and Ohio and Great Northern preferred, together with other high class issues. recording ma terial declines. The list steadied in the afternoon. although Reading continued to Hct erratically The better tone or the market was followed by increased periods of dlillness. which induced traders to in- crease their commitments on the short side. This class as whole seemed dis posed to play for further reaction and the leaders of the other side were equal ly inclined to encourage new short ac- counts Business dwindled in the late session and the closing hour was the dull est of the day. London. which suffered a setback with a slight shading of con sols. was not a factor here. selling very moderately on balance. Forecasts of the weeks money market shows an apparent loss hv local banks of about S9.s00. GOO scarcely more than half of the previous weeks drain The preliminary crop de- mand continues however. s5o0o00 being transferred to Chicago and s2o0.0o0 to New Orleans A feature of the afternoon was a slight furry in call money, which sent