The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-22
PRICE MOVEMENT
 IS MUCH SHARPER Carly Movement Gentered
 Largely in Speclalt'es RUM0RS OF CROP DAMAGE Reports of Large Orders for Russian Naval Reconstruction Were Cur rent-Divldends by Ontario &
 Western and Reading.
 
RUMORS OF CROP DAMAGE

New York, June 21.=The speculative leadership for which the rank and file of small traders had been watching in order to determine the reduction of the ventures, asserted itself in the stock mar ket today and whipped up a sharp price movement It was evident that the out standing short interest has been extended to unsupported proportions owing to the temptation to take the short of very dull market The demand from uncovered shorts formed an Important element and extending the advance when the aggres- sive market leadership has established it. self.
 The ammunition employed by the lead srship was not available and of sub stantial kind, and some of the incidents of the day were of a kind that would have proved distinctly diseouraging in market where depression was the order of the day. But the long resistance to repeated attack which the market has shown and the moderate success in the last two days of efforts to get prices up- ward had gathered such cumulative eff feet that a comprehensive upward move ZGQl WAH lIlc ltSuAls <A NVhoAa&AehA fSA ualo of realizing sales was found to over- hang the market, and placed the holders who have been waiting for a spot to sell the stocks in the bad shape. These ab- sorbed with a good deal of freedom.
 By that time a considerable portion of the equipment from the short interest has been saerifeced The early movement centered largely in specialues. Reports Of b 4t1fa gfn aI m. struetion were current and something was made of the published denial by Ex-Pres- ident Schwab of an intention to combine & number of independent corporations to compete with the United States steel corporation. The joint purchase by the Long Island railroad and the lnterborough Rapid Transit of a system of electric rail- roads on Long Island was made the ba- sis of conjecture of a community amongst local traction interests deduced from the fact of the former cooperation of Penn sylvania railroad interests with the Met ropoltan street railway.
 It became known that the report of the state superintendent of insurance on the Equitable Life Assurance society investi- gation would be given out tonight and the hope was indulged that this might be the last episode of any sensational character in that long drawn out subject; consummation that would afford great re- lief to all stock market interests. The oc- currence of dividends meeting of Ontario and Western and the Reading companies was made. skillful use of by the leaders. The execution of an increase In the Read ing dividend was not made mucn of Tn the case of Reading itself but it was urged as warranting the execution of a hoped for increase in dividends on other subsidiary stocks of the Pennsylvania.
 Doubtful factors which were ignored , during the day were crop damage ru- mors, reduction in the price of refined sugar, passing of the dividend on corn products preferred and declaration Of the regular dividend on Lehigh Valley, instead of a hoped for increase and the discovery of fraudulent raising of stock certificates in Philadelphia. Any one of these inci- dents would have unsettled the market at any time in the recent past The clos. ing of trust company in Philadelphia