The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-17
STOCK TRADING IS
 MORE APATHET|C Smaller Room Traders Have It
 to Themselves PRICE MOVEMENT NARROW 
 Sales of the Day Were the Smallest for Any Full Day Since Early
 In JuIy-Total Sales,
 $2,144,ooo.
PRICE MOVEMENT NARROW

New York, October 16.-Operations in stocks today were apathetic and list less. The smaller class of room traders had the market almost entirely to them selves. Their operations did not give enough motive power for any appreclable swing to prices. The fact reacted again on sentiment to discourage the traders, owing to the small profits on scalping operations. Complaints of the irksome
 ness of the state stock transfer tax which has been significantly lacking during pe- riods of wide price movements and cor responding speculative profits were re- vived. The public showed no interest in the market and the absence of any large orders, such as indicate the activity of powerful financial leadership in the mar
 ket. confirmed conviction which is grow ing in the minds of professional operators that attempts to attract public interest have been abandoned for the present.
 Some of the large commission houses under heavy running expenses complain of an entire absence of orders to execute today. The sluggish movement and the dull trading in Amalgamated Copper were regarded as typical of the whole mar ket. It is rare to see such neglect of this favorite medium of speculation on the eve of a dividend meeting. The directors are scheduled to meet on Thursday to decide the amount of the next quarterly disbursement. Assertions are very confi- dent of the intention to put the stock on an per cent dividend basis, but every attempt to advance the stocks brings out vii a suggested of the dividend action, it is unusual for the stock to be quiescent as at present. Recent pressure against Union Pacific, although unexplained by any news, is regarded as equally signifi- cant of the disnclination of financial in- terests which control the market at times to lead speculative movement. Current gossip designates the period of election uncertainty as to the probable duration of the quietness of the market.
 The days trading was singularly devoid of incident and there was no notable change on the existing conditions. The London money market was about steady, but the Bank of England gave up an- other s50O000 in gold for Egypt and sterl- ing exchange at Berlin continued to de- cline. In Paris, however. there was some recovery in the sterling exchange rate The swift decline in the local sterling exchange movement was arrested short of the return to the gold import point. It was reported however, that shipment of $1,500,O0O in gold has started from Aus tralia to San Francisco. The movement of gold to Canada prompted by the furry in the Toronto banking situation was not continued beyond the s9,0O00OO said to have been shipped yesterday, although it Is suggested that gold certificates by mail may have been shipped to that destina- tion The local money market was not dis turbed but the downward course of in- terest rates seemed to come to an end The influence of the reported high pres sure of the railroad companies on the railroad equipment companies to fill or ders was confined to pressed steel cars in today's stock market. Union Pacific and Amalgamated Copper finally achieved a gain of a point or more but the number of stocks of first importance that moved that much was very small. The