The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-04
STOCK MARKET FEATURES
HAVE THE BEARS LET GO TO
 TAKE 4 BETTER HOLD?
Open all Saturday Evenings.

stocks Down to an Investment Level
 Possibly Lower Depths Yet for
 Some StOeks--some Wall Street Opin-
 ions.
 The stock market had drop such as only hardened, well-seasoned speculat- ors in Wall street stocks had dared to predict as possible few months ago.
 Has the slump gone far enough or arethere greater depths of misery for tired speculators, who are long of stocks at prices from 10 to 30 points higher than the present?
 Money and trade conditions are sat- 1sfactory, therefore many ask, What ails the stock market, now that easy money, which was prayed for, has come?"
 Probably, say some, the market was at inflated figures a while ago. Then as another. cause for the slump the the- ory is advanced that the present bear campaign has for its excuse a general social and political unsettlement, the sentiment that this is to be a year of conservatism in business management and probably one of contraction, the public apathy toward Wall street secu- rities, and the spirit of cynicism that permeates the corporation classes and Keeps in restrain developments that may only furnish an oportunity for fresh federal and state activity of a destructive nature.
 With many gilt-edged stocks now on or 6 per cent basis there would seem to be grounds for considerable in- vestment buying, and no doubt a good many stocks are being bought and laid away because af their good return on the money expended.
 The iron and steel industry is in splendid condition. Railroad net earn ings are also excellent, even with the increased cost of equipment and labor.
 Wall street, it is said, has been per- ceptious, and one theory advanced is that it sees clouds ahead for business. owing to the unrest in the country, the spreadof socialstic ideas, the attacks on corporations, etc.
 Some Wall street opinions are as fol- lows:
 Grannis & Lawrence: If all the rail- roads want money at once to take care of their growing traffic it does not mean panic resulting from stringency; 1t only means an inconvenient waiting by the patros of the road, ad the loss of profits that might have been, but never have been. In other words we must be content to take our prosperity and expansion extended over several years instead of getting it all this year, and perhaps this restraint on expan- sion will be for the ultimate good of stockholders as we'll as the public.
 Ball & Whichler: We can only re- iterate our advices that we believe this market is very close to the bottom, and the purchases made on these weak days will show very good profit in the very near future.
 Carpenter, Baggott & Co.,: Through out the week bear news has been very effective. The reported intention of the president to attack over r-capitalizaton was regarded with considerable appre- llension, not so much by reason of it's own importance as because of its being another direct evidence of administra- tion antagonism to corporations. The result of this attitude is causing the withholding of financial support to en- terprises of recognized standing, and is a preventive of commercial expansion. and in the end can offer but one result if persisted in-the curtailment of bus, mess, and an arrest of that character istic American enterprise that has pro- duced what has been produced
 J. s. Bache 6 Go, after speaking of the setback to socialism seen in the re- cent German elections, the firm says: Germany has been the hotbed of this propaganda for years, but the infec- tious fires were conveyed to this coun- try, and the flames, unfortunately have been famed for the past two years into dangerous brightness by imminent example. For crediting Mir. Roosevelt, as one must, with high hon. esty and good intentions, and even hoping for the reforms which his im- petuous course will surely bring about one cannot but deplore the method en- ployed and the accompanying disasters which blaze the trail of this rough rid ing through and over the laboriously built enterprises, which it has taken years of industry and unlimited brains, energy and money to perfect.
 In the course of a letter written by w. c. Brown, president of the Amer ican Railway association, and senior vice president of the New York Central lines, in which he goes into the ques- tion of the relations which should exist between the railroads and the inter- state commerce commission, to which he is not opposed he says: 'The spirit of hostility against the railroads which seems to be felt by members of both parties and by the administration, whether real or not, is rapidly creating feeling of distrust, and is discrediting the railroads of the country to such an extent as to make it very difficult at the present time to secure any money for needed improvements, and promises to make it almost impossible to do so in the near future.
 LIE. Blackwell, of White & Black well: All the bad news is out, and prices are considerably lower than those of the toppy, dangerous market of November and December. We have now to digest gradually the avalanche of new securities. At present prices the investor has a fair return for his money, and a great variety to chose from.
 Alfred Mestre. of Alfred Mestre &