The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-11-18
GOOD REASONS FOR
STOCK ACTIVITY
Good Steel Business Through
out the Country
DIVIDENDS ARE INCREASING
Railroad Traffic Is Growing and
Larger Profits Are Recorded-Em-
ployes' Wages Are Being
Increased.
DIVIDENDS ARE INCREASING
BY w. G. NICHOLAS.


of a bull campaign in stocks. This bull
campaign began two years ago last spring
when the Standard Oil crowd, confident
that the depression in the steel Industry
was over, and that business IN all hnes
would pick up, began to load up with
stocks.
They bought enormous quantities OF
Union Pacific from 10 to 90, 81. Paul from
40 TO $50. Steel common from 10 to 10,
Steel preferred from 60 to 10, and other
stocks at correspondingly low prices
They centered their campaign however
on Union Pacific, then per cent Stock
When they began to buy stock they had
few followers, for the public could only
see in front of its nose, and could not
understand why anybody should buy
stocks when things looked so bad Pessi-
mists were talking about nard times and
disaster.
Now, after more than two years OF ris-
ing prices, with only occasional set
backs, the stocks that the Standard Oh
crowd loaded up with show enormous
profits In the great increase in business
activity throughout the country the Doom
in the steel business and he congestion
of railway traffic there is abundant rea-
son for the high prices for the present
II goes without saying that when the
STANDARD Oil crowd loaded up with STOCKS
they looked forward to time when lhey
could sell them at profit Inc wan
street phrase is that "Stocks were mace
20 sell" One railway company alter the
other In the past two years has iheredseu
its dividend or gone on diV'eaad OASIS
Increases in dividends usually follow the
great accumulation of stocks by insiders.
The third stage of the campaign Is now
being witnessed in the Increase In wages
by the large interests.
The movement for the increase In wages
seems to be a concerted one ana nolaple
among the corporations which nave IN
creased wages or have announced tnelr
intention of doing so are the pennsylvania
railroad New York Central railroad
STANDARD Oil company, U. $ steel corpo-
ration and the Union Pacific railroad.
These are five of the largest and most
powerful corporations in the country, and
the Standard Oil interest Is dominant in
all of them with the exception or the
Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania d1rec-
tors frankly say that they are increasing
wages because of the increased cost OF
living and the prosperity of the country.
"a hn
,s t,,e real reason because no corporation
.o,,,a ,noraasa ,te wages. no natter how
~ AZ cot ~ living might he unless
,a-9uas earning the surplus demanded for
the increase in wages.
Prosperous corporations all over the
country will now either be ooi'sed TO raise
their wages or have strikes on their
hands 1t is likely that any threatened
strikes in prosperous corporations Will be
t,,stnoss 20 TOO active now for A corpora
.,o,, "a Ice any time I'm n strike The
,,.haIasa1a r.ieins Of WAGES nil over the
t'. -, Iarao oo,norafions usually
-, a. orIr,tnatio ~ n nrosDerity
- ~ n {. ,,n.,iee to relr absolutely
W." 80 II eno,ca some nf The en-
. a., =, toaav would have us believe
-. .io ,araoodant Is +, he broken
VIC. ~ a., ~ oonptrv is Going to
lo~ an az, aoords hefore if reaches
nc nc ST. ~, ~ - 80 Nan,
'"S
Rise In SECURITIES.
This bull campaign, thus far looking at
n from, broad point of view, has been a
fsilure for the makers of securities. We
have had an enormous rise In securities
IN the last two years. with no commensu-
rate nublic distribution. This is especially
true In bonds. The bond market has been
FAT for a long time, and bond houses
have heen unable to get rid of their Sc
cnri,ies at any reasonable profit. The big
interests have most of the stocks that
they purchased during the rise, and they
have heen unable to find any large pub
lie market for them. Various reasons are
assigned for this. but an unprejudiced
view of the matter leads one to The con-
clusion that the reason the big people
cannot sell stocks to the public at these
nrIces is that the publics fath in high
finance has been very much shaken by the
exnosures If the mast three or four years.
esnecialIv those of the past two years
Tom Lawson OF Boston is Etsafdeu IN
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