The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-03
A DROP IN VALUES
PRICES OF STOCKS SLUMP IN sPEC- PECULIAR MANNER.
Heavy Selling Almost Regardless of Offers Begins at the Opening of
 Exchange-EnoFrnOus Bus fneaa Done,

New York. May 2.--Not since the Northern Pacific panic of May 9, 1901, has there .been such q Spectacular dc- cline in prices on the Stock Exchange as there was today. Heavy selling almost regardless of the prices offered began with the opening of the market and from tbat time until near the close sthe tone. generally was weak. There were rallies from time to time whom the bears bought stocks to- cover the Sales theyA. had made at higher prices or when some strong financial interest sent in buying orders to protect shares in which. they werre interested, but each rally except the last one just before 3 o'clock was followed by a resumption of the selling movement. The days trading was extremely heavy, rising to the total of 2,445,000 shares. Nearly 700, 900 shares of stock changed hands In the first hour of trading.
 Considerable excitement marked the opening of the exchange. Yesterdays late decline had prepared the brokers for lower prices and heavy transac- tions today and the attendance on the floor was very large. It was known that the commission houses had heavy orders to dispose of securities as early as possible and also that there were forced sales to be made where custom CTS carrying stocks on margin had fail- ed to respond to calls for more funds. Within few minutes after the trad ing began many stocks touched new low records for the year
 There was n uch confusion, as 1t seem ed that every broker had orders to sell and was anxious to get rid of his stocks without a moments delay. At first the interest centered in the half stocks which have been the market leaders for some time past. Anaconda, which closed last night at 246. opened at 234 and immediately sold at 232, loss of 14 points. Northern Pacific, which closed yesterday at 1s0, opened at 1SS and on a running scale" sold at 1SS, 1855. then back to 1S6 and is7. Read ing's first sales was only 1-sc. below yesterday at 117 s-s. but selling soon broke out in this stock, forcing the price down to 1l5 1-2 on 10000 shares.
 Amalgamated Copper opened at s9 S4 to 99, as compared with 100 S-4 at close yesterday and Union Pacific, which ended yesterday at 142 3-4, first ap peared today at 142, Al S-4 and 140.
 Anaconda was the subject of much comment Today's opening price of 232 was 6S points below the high price of the year, which was made on February 13 Twelve months ago the stock sold as low as 100 12.
 After the first ten minutes there was a fair-sized rally on covering by shorts which carried St. Paul above yesterday s closing prices and the others from 1 to 2 points above the low. but the trad ing was very irregular and soon atfer II o'clock there was another violent slump. which carried prices in many instances lower than ever. Copper broke through 9s.
 The weakness grew more pronounced during the second hour. when Union Pacitic was hammered down below 139; Amalgamated Copper below 9S and Steel, preferred. to 102.
 At noon support seemed to have been entirely withdrawn and there was ab- solute demoralization. Nobody seemed to want stocks at any prices, and they were thrown over so fast that the ticker tape was from five to ten minutes be- hind in reporting sales.
 There was another rally at 12;15. some stocks showing signs of a little support, though there was no vigorous buying. This rally was followed by q drive against Reading. which carried it down to 112 After o'clock 1t ap- peared that there was no further liqui- dation in sight and prices rallied to the best of the day. There was no definite news to account for the heavy selling and consequent collapse in prices Wall Street hears mary rumors of bear pools formed to depress prices, of alleged financial difficulties and of nlleged i'm pairment of confidence in the values of some of the securities listed on the ex- change. but nothing developed to give substance to any of these reports. Call money opened at s per cent and con tinuei tight during tnis morIfinr. At o'clock it had jumped to 12 per cent. There was little demand, however. and it soon slipped back to per cent and the last loan was at per cent