The Washington herald., 1907-03-21
RumOrs of Trouble to Houses
Again Baseless.
SOME ARE GIVEN ASSISTANCE
stock, Long Untradsd, FOuna on the
Market. which Gives Color to Re-
port that Ala was Needed-Profes-
siOnaI Bear Traders stan in Gem
troI-T. c. & |. Pool Not shaken.

reports thdt some houses fisd received
sufficient assistance 10 carry them
through. Il Is Ia precisely the same way
that all such rumors have passed of in
the past three weeks. The talk has started
with a report concerning this or that big
house known as a inancier of the Hin
stocks. OF the Hartman shares. of the
Coppers, or any others that had sus-
tanned big decline. and 1t had insisted
that the particular house was unable 10
supply the additional collateral required
by the banks
In several cases the reports have gone
on to say that bankers were looking over
the particular firms securities TO dis
cover whether there was a reasonable
chance of pulling It through. and then
there have been reports that there was no
trouble At all. or that the trouble was so
slight as to be cured easily
The sequence has bcen the same on five
or six occasions, but renewals OF failure
ruinors have been servieeable to bear
operators, for losses have been so heavy
that eredulity appears to have been the
temper Of the street
Many brokers and some bankers though
disclaiming knowledge of particular in
stances, say that assistance must have
been rendered to some houses and opera
tors. 1t has been inevitable. they say.
otherwise there must have been failures.
Such has been the impression generally
throughout the street; yet there is little
10 prove the proposition except the quota
tons and the appearance in the banks
OF hundreds OF certificates never before
hypothecated The tape, which very
often tells the truth. also lends some cor
roborations. For instance. in the rally
OF this morning II said 10 many observers
that there was coming out stock, the pro-
ceeds from which would be used to liqul-
date accounts carried only by outside
help through the bad spots in the market.
On the other hand. bankers who on
the previous day were as apprehensive as
anyone. said that It was time for the
street TO turn a deaf ear to rumors Of
failures.
a close investigation had besn made,
they said. into reports affecting every one
OF the No. houses mentioned in the ru-
mors. and there had been secured indis-
putabIe evidence OF the stability of the
houses. Whether or not several smaller
houses have been helped, they said, was
immaterial. The point was that the CON
dition Of no house was sufficiently serious
10 justify any alarm over the possibility
of such & failure as would seriously affect
conditions. Il have decided said one OF
these bankers to-day, TO wait until a fail
ure is announced hereafter before paying
the slightest attention to the rumors."
Reading started the day with a fine
spurt, opening al l05i5 two points up. and
advancing TO lO63s. Prom the start there
was heavy selling by a house which was
believed to be liquldating long account,
and this selling, together with orders
from many firms which were engaged in
house cleaning. sent the price sharply
downward after the first hour The nqui-
dalton in the stock was watched very
carefully. and the general conclusion
afterward was that no alarm need be felt
IT, The strength OF the buying
in the morning. il was said, was sufficient
to take care Of the great majority Of weak
accounts.
The erratic course Of Union Pacific, in
which there was a range of "a in price.
also indicated that there was IN progress
house cleaning which might better have
been performed on Saturday. The stock
opened 124 points up. and then throughout
the session moved forward and backward
in ranges of two or three
points. It offered fine opportunity for a
floor trader and 2 very large profit might
have been secured by any broker on the
floor alert enough to get In and out with
d majority Of the many variations. Very
likely there was heavy professional trad
ing in It of this description, for the stock
came out with every appearance of
strength. The net result Of the days
acrobatics was a fractional gain,
and the hope was expressed by those still
long OF the stock and able to protect them /
selves that the sale OF pool holdings and
sales fer foreign account might soon
cease. Until this process is concluded, it
was felt the bear party is quite certain 20
have the upper hand.
Professional bear operations apparently
We're still conducted openly, actively, and
on a very large scale. Bear leaders pre-
dict a general sagging IN prices until tbs
low record of last Thursday is again
reached. Investment buying, they insist.
has practically ceased, and the operators
have been too badly hurt and have too
much else To think of to support the
market in any substantial way.
It is not. however. yet time for any
one to go short of Tennessee Coal and
Iron, The pool Is still intact, and the
corner as tight as ever. To-day some one
81 to III a
was permitted to dispose of it at the
price considered proper by the pool mana-
gers. This happened to be 134, five points
off the last sale. Soon after the sale was
made "a big crowd congreEated about the
Tennessee Coal and Iron post, which is
ordinarily deserted. for there was an ex-
pectation Of developments in the stock.
Smelters lost 3 points to-day, but one
time was down points from the opening.
This low price. lis. was almost 50 points
below the high of last year. and undoubt-
edly the transactions of the day repre-
sented the endurance of some very heavy
losses. Probably, also, it was said, the
losses IN the decline in the stock had been
the loss Of paper profits TO quite as
great an extent as IN any other security. |
January earnings of Missouri Pacific
showed an increase OF Sl34,S7s in gross, and
SIS. 7S5 in net The statement appeared to
George J. GouldIs prediction
last week that the earnings were ample
for the payment Of the dividend. The
stock was steady and strong throughout
the day.
A comparison of the prices prevailing
for high-grade bonds with those on Ian.