Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-06
Financial News Letter
BY W. G. NICHOLAS.


Special Correspondence of The Star.
NEW YORK, October Sin a narrow
market, where conditions bearish. the
tendency is to overdo the short selling in
many apparently vulnerable stocks and put
the market into post ton where 1t can be
easily manipulated at the expense of the
bears Several INSTANCES of this have
been witnessed during the last week. 1t has
been the delight of the market generals to
take specialties one at a time and lift
them violently and without warning. there
by frightening the shorts into covering at
loss The generals, wise men that they
are, do not attempt to hold prices on the
high levels, because by doing so they would
invite the selling of real stocks. 1t is an
easy matter to run up any particular stock
which happens to be oversold. but 1t Is
not so easy to find a market for the goods
at top quotations Canadian Pacific was
one of the things that was jumped the first
of the week at the expense of the shorts.
st. Paul came next. Drives were also
made at the shorts in Amalgamated.
Shelters, Union Pacific, Brooklyn Rapid
Transit and other specialties which had
been unduly favored by the bears. In none
of these demonstrations was real buying
power developed The banking interests
a general bull movement. Meantime. how
ever, absorption of securities is going On in
small way by small people, and those of
the middle class who have actual money to
invest and find themselves unable to with
stand the temptation Of putting 1t into
stocks that yield an income of to II
per cent on current quotations. This alb
sorption is of sufficient volume in the ag
sregate to lick up a considerable percentage
of liquidated stocks coming on the market,
thereby keeping the floating supply down
to within manageable limits.
One of the incidents Of the week was
an interview by William Rockefeller on St.
Paul In refuting a rumor that St. Paul
was intending to borrow $12.OO00OO Mr..
Rockefeller explained that the road was
not only not in the market for funds. but
that 1t had money in the treasury. or due
on 1nStallments of stock subscriptions Suf-
hcient In amount to pay for the extension
of the road to the Pacific coast and leave
balance of 500, 100000 more. While
reassuring stockholders that they would
ceive the usual 7 per cent for While, Mr..
Rockefeller was at pains to say that he did
not care to go on record predicting Z per
cent in perpetuty. Analysts of railroad
accounts say that when the new issue of
stock, which Is as yet only partly paid
for and does not appear in the reports.
gets on the books the per cent will go
glimmerng-in other words that the earn
ings of the system will no longer justify
that rate on the enlarged capitalization.
AS safe 7-per-cent stock st. Paul may be
cheap at 12e. AS a 5 per cent or per cent
stock 1t may be high priced at that quo
tation IN competition with such stocks as
Baltimore and Ohio, Illinois Central, Atchi-
son and Louisville and Nashville. Further
more. after the ST. Paul is finished to the
Pacific a great many millions of dollars
additional money will be required to equip
and perfect the road it can compete on
even terms with it's rivals the north
and south. Inc street cynics never fail,
of course, to call attention to the suspicion
that whenever Mr.. Rockefeller, Mr.. Rogers,
Mr.. Morgan any other authorities of
high financ" feel moved to bolster up the
market in any particular it is because they
have something to sell and are looking for
customers