The Washington herald., 1907-01-09

Cago. the manufacturer of ST. Louis. or
the cattle man Of Kansas City makes up
his mind TO enter the stock market. after
a long absence, the money which ne has
on deposit in the banks in his own local
ity is likely to be drawn upon TO supply
the margins. if not the entire cost of his
purchases. The two great needs OF Wall
street speculations are increased public
interest and an additional supply of
funds
a very nice sense Of proportion was
observed in the manipulation of Colorado
Fuel and Iron i'm the first hour, a small
operator making a small movement in a
small stock. The stock became weak in
the afternoon. the traders selling on the
absence of any real support.
Stop-orders were caught in Amalga-
mated Copper on the decline. and some
weakly held stock was thrown upon the
market on the appearance Of selling
which the traders regarded as good The
probability Is that the very object of the
selling orders. transacted through promi-
neHt houses, was To shake out the weak
following that had begun 10 trail the bull
movement, weakening the technical posi-
tion Of the stock. and to encourage the
growth of a short interest, the lack Of
which was the least satisfactory point
about ANA lgamatcd from the standpoint
Of the bulls. The decline was accompa-
MED by "a rumor that the next dividend
would be > per cent fiat for the quarter
placing the stocks sQuarsly on an \ per
cent basis This rateSwould prove dis
appointing as there has for some time
frH# q lion IL
cent by making the extra which supple
ments the regular dividend double what
t is now.
Persistent reiteration Of the rumor Of
the sale Of rights on Amalgamated
Copper stock has not dissipated
the increduiity with which the story
WAS first received. and there are
a good many bulls on the stock
WhO feryently wish that the company
viii not hand out a melon as the street
would be almost certain 20 call il a lemon
and make IL look like one. The story, so
far as it has any shape at all. is that
members of small copper concern will
be- gathered into one strong organization
and that this viii be taken over by Anal
gamated in exchange for stock. No men
ti0n is made Of the particular companies
that are 10 figure in this alleged cOmbina-
uon- nor is il made clear how stock
holders are to be given rights on stock
that is 90 be exchanged for other stocks.
instead of being distributed or sold to
them
Every day seems to add to the number
Of brokers who believe that there is a
connection between the recent buying OF
Pennsylvania and that of Atchison. This
belief has not become general by any
means, but quite a few brokers now en-
tertain it and have presented their views
TO their customers so that further signs
of action than those already observed are
eagerly looked for.
The believers in the theory that Penn
sylvdnia intends to take stOckholding
interest in Atchison assert that few
years ago a large line of the latter was
Accumulated by Philadelphia financial
institution in the interest of Pennsyl-
vania, but that the stock was afterward
sold out for some reason that may now
be no longer in existence. The Pennsyl-
vania policy, they say, is likely to be
something like the Union Pacific pOuCy
on account Of the extent 10 which both are
controlled bv the same interests: and as
the Union Pacific policy has already been
made clear in the matter of ownership of
the stocks Of connecting roads, it is in
ferred that Pennsylvania may be the real
buyer Of Atchison stock so as by means
of a friendly connection" with this road
To secure - itself the advantages Of a
complete transcontnental line.
London was a very small factor in our
market, its transactions being small and
so impartially divided between buying
and selling as to be entirely without sig
nihcance. No business was received after
the regular London business hours, the
brokers going home as soon as the ex
change closed, so that there was pTacti-
cally nothing done in Americans on the
curb. although that market often trans
acts a good volume of business with New
York.
Many brokers have come TO the con-
cIusion that the banks on account of the
low condition Of their reserves have been
putting the screws on speculation, and
that this has been the cause of the re-
newed stiffness in the call money market
this week when a condition of something
like normal was expected. So long as
stocks remain concentrated in a few
hands. the burden of carrying them falls
upon the Wall Street banks, but after the
public have come IN as buyers. if they
can be induced to come in at all, then
money will be drawn from other points,
and as stocks are distributed, loans OF
large interests and of pools may be re-
duced, while the new money brought into
the street by the public will aid these in
carrying their holdings.
Bears say that as the president of the
national bank that has made it a prac-
tice to lend driblets of money at per
cent at times when other lenders were
charging two or three times that rate. is
about to sail for Europe, there will be
no one left to break the rate whenever
it is forced to an excessively high level
Once again Union Pacific was the weak
est Of the active stocks, although there
was nothing in the way of news beyond
what was brought out at the Interstate
Commerce investigation last week, and
which has been the subject of a great deal