Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1906-02-07
COPPER CONTINUES ON AN EVEN
 KEEL.
(From SAturdsy's Daily.)

NoPPef continues qu1et and steady
 Lake and electrolytic are selling n
 lsh to 1sh cents per pound. The ap
 parent effort of the New York Meta
 Exchange and certain trade publica
 tions to quote prices down has create,
 no selling pressure. The output of th,
 largest producers is practically all solt
 several months in advance, and the re
 quirements of the heaviest consumer.
 have been taken care of as a rule fo,
 n like period. What copper is being
 sold is coming from small producer.
 who have no established line of custo
 mcrs. Leading interests in the trade assert that it would be difficult to se cure as much as 5,ooo,0Oo pounds of copper for February delivery. It is ex pected that large consumers will re-en. ter the market about 30 days hence, and usually good authorities are conf. dent that with resumption of activity prices will advance again, says Geo. l.. Walker in the Boston Commercial.
 There has been no falling of in con. sumption and production is not increas. ing materially. The export movement is as large in volume as could be ex. pected. As there are no surplus stocks of copper in existence it will require either large increase in production or a decrease in consumption to depress prices. The "current decline in cop per prices" amounts to n Auctuation of only about half a cent per pound in 10 cent copper market, which by comparison Is small indeed.
 A few stocks had begun to get top heavy. and too many people had taken on their full lines and were waiting for prices to advance. consequently the re. action of this week was inevitable, and it has left the whole market in much better shape. Many traders who sold out were given an opportunity to buy again at a lower level.
 The country is wonderfully prosper. cus. There has been an unprecedented succession of bumper crops, and the have taken anything the far. mer has had to sell at astonishingly high prices. The agricultural inter. csts of this country are rolling in wealth, and there never before was n iich husbandry in any country or at any time in the worlds history. Mer- chants and manufacturers are also af. fluent, and the great railroad and in- dustrial corporations are pilinR up Ire. cash surpluses. With such a supply of fuel there is little possibility that the speculative fires will fail, or that honest and wisely planned new enterprises will have to search long for financial support.
 For my part cannot see that there will be any occasion to get bearish on the market until after there have been a number of new fotations, such as will greatly increase the supply of securi- ties. The number of buyers of stocks is increasing much more rapidly than the sellers, consequently prices go on advancing. It is swapping back and forth of money and securities, and the men with the money are steadily grow ing more and more numerous.
 The most fertile field for new ven. lures is unqucstionably that of mining, and, as in the past, copper holds out much greater inducements and richer promises to capital than any other min cral or metal. It should be remembered that the copper mines of this country not only maintained their identity and continued regularly in operation through the panic periods of 1873. 1878, 1886. and 1893, but many of them paid regular dividends when more than one half of the railroad mileage of the Unit cd States was operated by court re- ceivers, railroad earnings having drop ped so low that even bond interest could not be met.
 During the past dozen years this country has exported a total of ap' pro1imately $500, 100000 worth of cop. per, and the value of last years ex' ports Is estimated at &s0,000,0 ,000. In the meantime our home consumption of the metal has been multiplied.