The Washington herald., 1906-11-14
Stock Market Rallies After a
Week of Depression.
STANDARD OIL WEAK ON CURB
Many Traders Incline TO Belief that
Present Era of Prosperity Has Al
most Run It's Course, and Predic-
tfons of n Depression Are Fre-
auent-Neyys Notes and Gossip.

!
I hasten the change.
! Secretary Shaw's presence In New York
naturally started rumors that some plan
OF relief for the money market was under
discussion. and Wall Street had all sorts
/ OF guesses as to the time and manner
/ o. the treasury's action. Those who con-
tended that nothing would be done, said
| Mr.. Shaw only came here 70 lock over
( the new custcu1-kouse, or possibly get
material foT his report to Congress. while
/ the smaller number. who clung 20 the
/ belief that sooner or later an important
I announcement would be made, wondered
what the effect OF favorable action might
be. BY the time the market closed, how
/ ever, there was room for only one opinion
that Wan Street had nothing 70 look
/ for at present from Washington.
Standard Oil was weak on the curb. but
he strength OF St. Paul on the stock
exchange indicated that the Standard
OIL interests were not especially worried
over the intention os the government to
/ press the suits against the sO-calied oil
trust. The selling Of Standard OH stock,
! although unusually heavy for that issue.
only amounted 10 something Ike hun
dred shares, so that e could not be re-
garded as evidence Of alarm among the
large Interests, while the buying OF 81
/ Paul was the strongest kind OF testimony
I TO the feeling OF confidence IN influen-
I tial quarters that nothing Of a nature
calculated to disturb the business Of the
company was to be apprehended from
any quarter.
The selling of the industrial stock mean,
little; the buying Of the railroad issues
! seemed % signify much. Standard oil
J interests have been accused at times OF
engineering q decline IN the market as a
/ demonstTs ton against the government.
but the conspicuous strength Of St. Paul
under existing circumstances leaves no
Coor for such an accusation al this time.
Most OF the las Issue OF ST. Paul went
toward daIraying the cost Of constructing
tle new line TO the Pacific. OF the entire
Sz5g,a.lU0 realized. S1fU00.000 was spent
for new equipment. ard the balance was
used Tor the purchase or additional
terminals and other property. As the
cost Of work on the new road has yet %
be- paid Tor, Il Is practically certain soon
er or later there VIII be another Issue Of
stock with rights 70 present holders, and
As there really was no reason Why St
L
basis of the rapid rise cannot be said to
be obscure.
i is estimated that the floating supply
OF stock has not exceeded S3o.oue. co.. the
large interests having taken practically
tN tie last issue, and recently there has
been buying In the market which cleaned
1p most Of what was loosely held, SO that
the technical position became very. strong.
Under existing conditions IN the money
market the granting Of rights need hard
/ y be expected Immediately, but matters
OF this kind arc often pretty wen dis
counted before they occur. At the close
of the day tncre was rumor that control
OF the property had been secured by
Northern Pacific, but this received little
credence.
few or the most important connmis-
sion houses were a little more bullish IN
advices 20 their customers or sent out
over their wires than for some days past.
although q good many Of them were ad-
verse % doing much on the long side In
view OF the money situation. and some
were positively bearish, regarding that
while liquidation might be stayed for a
time III would soon break out again in
/ spite Of anything that might be done to
/ prevent It"
Just at present there are comparativelv
few houses in Wall street that ar,
anxious 70 see the Treasury extend any
measure Of relief to the money market
Most OF them are extremely Conse-va-
tive in Their views on this subject, tskiae
the ground that whatever might be done
would only tend 70 promote speculation
Or send gold abroad.
Hopes are expressed that Secretary
Shaw viii conserve MS resources for a
time OF real need instead OF wasting them
in promoting the very cause Of the pres
ent trouble. This Conserva tism. so differ
ent from tho attitude generally taken in
the past, when most brokers strongly
advocated whatever measures Of relief
could be afforded, IS highly significant as
showing the present speculative position
for It may be accepted as q self-evident
proposition that when house IS long
Of stocks il has 10 objection to policies
tending 70 promote bull speculations
while on the other hand is Is out OF
stocks IL IS ant ID regard them from an
extremely different standpoint. Accord
ing to this rule the conmiss on houses
seem to be carrying small lines now.
Another thing which seems to disclose
the real speculative situation is that prac-
ticaIly every broker and trader has made
up his mind that the present era Of pros
perity has about reached its climax, and
that there will be unmistaksble evidence
of this before long. Not a single clrcun-
I stance can they mention in support OF
their conviction, and the most logical ar
4 gument they can put forth for their be-
lief Is that the present prosperity cannot
last forever, which, Of course. is very
true. but with the example of Mother
Sh ptOn IN mind they should not risk
I their reputation as prophets on what the
/ course OF the next few months may dis
prove. Had that good old lady chosen
1881 for the fulfiliment Of her prophecy
she might have enjoyed fame for q cenru-
", and those who predict the elimination
OF the present era Of good times being
forewarned might at least put the date
as far of as 1910. As they probably be-
lieve what they say. their Judgment be-
ing influenced by their position in the mar
ket, there may be great surprise in
store Tor them.
Traders and SPECTATORS who have Just
lsharpened their pencils to figure out the
cost to the railroads OF the higher wages
granted OF likely 20 he granted 70 en-
Ipioyes in an endeavor to prove that the
larger outgoes involve q lowering Of the
values OF stocks appear to forget that the
larger interests and those closely in touch
with railroad affairs foressw long ago
that 81 movement like that now making
itself felt in the demands OF certain
classes of labor was inevitable
In the past few weeks considerable