The Washington herald., 1906-11-20

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as he has been enabled 10 gain by i.
/ There is no reason TO believe that a move
ment which has just begun 10 give prom
/ ise of sUcceSs-cOmmissiOn houses show
/ ing a notable increa ase-will be abandoned
at the first reverse.
/ St PauTs action, some operators said,
was more calculated to intimidate than TO
/ encourage trading on the bull side Any
I thing that looks like a corner tends 10
hurt the market as d whole, and the
! traders affected to see an attempt at a
/ corner in St Paul, and for this reason
] increased their sales Of other stocks
/ So Tar the most generally accepted
/ reason for the rise in St. Paul is that the
/ floating supply has become very small
/ There is the probability of this, but it
/ is not immediate, and the advance has
| fully discounted the value Of anything Of
/ this nature that could reasonably be ex-
pected. Talk Of deals has been heard, but
/ this has beel utterly discredited In the
/ best quarters, and all that well-informed
( interests say in explanation Of the move
ment IS that the largest holders Of the
/ stock absorbed principally al Of the last
I issue. as well as the greater part OF the
+ floating supply, so that when the shorts
/ Of which there We're many. attempted 10
cover they found the operation was By
/ no means easy. It IS doubtful il any one
/ seriously believes that an attempt has
I been made to corner ST. Paul The lar
/ gest holders of the stock are Standard
I Oil interests. which are perhaps as much
/ concerned In the welfare of the market as
/ a whole as any group OF capitalists in
1 this country.
/ II is one thing 20 corner a stock. and
another to force a short interest TO cover
on top Of an advance which does not
carry the level Of price much above the
level OF value. When spectators sell
stock short as was done in the case Of
St Paul, without any intelligent appre-
citation Of its value. they deserve no SYM
pathy If they are forced To- pay the price
( Of their rashness. Experience has al
ways kept a dear school. but there is
/ class of operators that will learn in no
other.
The normal price Of St. Paul preferred
is about lS5, but on this movement il has
risen TO 204 II would be idle to contend
that this has been accomplished merely
on the short interest II is a long time
since anybody in Wall street has had the
temerity 10 sell St Paul preferred short.
The stock is, IN the fullest sense. an in
vestment issue. and a speculator who
sold il short once would not be likely TO
repeat the experiment.
A retrospective glance over the past year
is illuminating In January. when the
common doomed on talk of rights, the
preferred remained practically stationary.
and, as is well known. no rights were
granted al that time. Later, just preced-
ing the granting Of rights in the smaller,
the preferred and common advanced sim
ultaneOUSly. the former maintaining a
substantial lead just as il had in the past
week. If precedent can be taken as a
guide. the advance in st. Paul stock has
a more substantial basis than mere
manipulation. ard. while rights may not
come Immediately, it is we'll to remember
that such developments are often dis
counted before their occurrence.
London was again a large buyer Of
Union Pacific, and the buying for local
account appeared to be of very good quail
ity It was asserted that the annual re-
port would be published this week. show
ing earnings Of upward Of 20 per cent on
the common stock. irrespective of profits
on the sale Of a portion Of the company
holdings in the Hill roads. This estimate
of the years results does not differ mate
rally from one heard previously. and this
interests who did not seem to regard it
as too high. secured for it pretty general
acceptanCe. There were various other Tu-
mors regarding Union Pacific brought out
by the enormous volume Of trading and
the great strength of the stock during the
forenoon. but none of them commanded
anything ike the attention bestowed upon
that already mentioned All sorts of deals
were spoken of, but the stories of this
kind lacked even the merit OF originality.
Perhaps the most widely circulated ru-
NOR involving Union Pacific with some
other road was the time-woTn one about
a merger with the New York Central,
having St Paul Illinois Central, or
Northwestern as the connecting link.
The story is at least eight years old, and
seems to have no more substantial basis
to-day than when it was first sprung as
a sensation on Wall street and the rail-
road world
Expectation regarding publication of
the Union Pacifc's annual report seems
doomed to another disappointment Al
most everybody in the street appears TO
have come to the conclusion that the re-
port viii make its appearance before the
end of the week, but. according to the
best information. publication will be with
held until the return from the West of
f. II. Hartman, whose approval must be
obtained for every item and paragraph.
The probability is that while the report
which is now in type will be mailed to
the stockholders before long. it will not
DC permitted to leave the Office this week.
at all events.
1t is said the method followed by Great
Northern IN slictng its melon will be to
distribute beneficial certificates emitting