The Washington times., 1907-12-23
NEW YORK STOCKS
POSITIVELY WEAK
southern Financial Troubles,
High Money, and Reduced
Dividends, Followed by
Severe Declines.


NEW YORK, Dec. 3-Noon.-Wau
street was not disappointed in the char
acter Of the stock market this morn
ing. The majority Of brokers and pro-
iessional traders had looked for a slow
market with gradual recessions in val
ues' as the bull operators Of the last
1ew days took their profits and evened
Up accounts preparatory to the adjourn
ment Cor the holidays. AS a result.
The market was dull and prices were
lower. This was what was expected
80 Jas the horizon indicates there
Is little chance for improvement in
stocks The rise of the last week was
Very largely due to the timldity of the
professional shorts, even after their
great gains, and the buying for the nc
count OF the small investor. small indi-
VidUally, but in the aggregate quite
large as To the volume of their buying
Frobably much Of this buying WAS IN
the nature Of reinveStment Of funds on
account Of January disbursements OF
llNldend and interest account. New
crkers are not looking tor much more
buying Of this character.
Bearish Influences,
The New York banks are stiH some
&o,oOoO0O shy Of being even. Time
money is Unobtainable and currency is
sull at a premium. Moreover. the
working balance I'm the United States
Treasury is down to about 5000. 90.
and the general opinion is that the Gov
ernment viii commence to draw down
money from national repositories In
the immediate future.
The American Screw Company re-
duced Its dividend from a . per cent
basis to 81 per cent basis. The Me
chanics' and Traders Bank Of New
York declared a dividend on a 3 per
cent basis as compared with the usual
o per cent The Union Pacific lost sos
C0,0oO on it's investments in other Sc
curities than its own
Moreover there were reports of the
extension Of the banking trouble in the
South and Southwest. Furnace after
furnace is closing in the iron district
and blowout after blowout is promised
before the advent Of the New Year.
As stated before. time money is unob-
talnable. All these things do not af-
feet the dividends on ChicIet shares
me chewing OF gum goes On unabated
and the regular dividends on the pre-
Ierred shares go on unabated with the
regular IL per cent payments on the
common shares
Not Much Doing.
The market was very dull. The only
stocks that showed any activity were
Reading and Union Pacific. the rest be-
Ing about as dull as possible. I'm
mediateiy following the opening there !
was a general downward trend, extend
Ing as a general rule to = and q Of
point. while in many instances the loss
reached 1 and points. The bears con-
sldered the market prOpitious and
pressed stocks here and there with
more earnestness than they have shown
Tor some days The fact that there
were few shorts outstanding was evil
dence by the limited demand in the
local crowd. indicating the lack of sun
port from this trading element
The Range.
Copper opened at 47Is, sold down to Az
and in the slight recovery over the
threshold Of the second hour. advanced
10 45ls- Smelter opened at 1874. a loss OF
4; declined 10 p, and recovered to 72EL.
Atchison, Baltimore and Ohio. Chesa-
peake and Ohio. and Delaware and Hud-
son all lost from 4 TO y. Great North
ern opened at ll7d117A. and broke to
lla% recovering % 1854 Missouri Pacific
lost points. Northern P4cihc. ll7l4 10
ll51s TO ll6A. Both the Hill stocks were
at exactly the same price az the end
OF the first hours trading and into the
second hour.
Reading opened at %. dropped 10 93ss
ana recovered T. Sugar was point !
lower Union Pacific and Southern pa
clhc lost =. st. Paul was off a point. I
The Steels were y point lower
A report that the New York Air /
frake Company viii place mortgage /
on ITS plant TO cover money borrowed /
from bankers was responsible for loss /
or Two points in the stock Of the COM 1
pauy
other unfavorable reports were that 1
the American Brass Company was cut
ting down its working force and that /
the Atlantic Coast line will dispense I
with the services of 10 per cent of its /.
employees later in the week.
Because cf the uncertainty of the rate /
Of the next dividend on Missouri Pa
cifiC that security declined two points
American stocks opened heavy in Lon
small transactions. The market there !
bore a holiday appearance.
l:l5 p. m.-With call money 25 per cent I
and only a small amount offered. and on 4
the 23d day of December. bullish ten |
dencies were buried under burden of (
caution.
The best thing that could happen to .
the market would be inactivity and /
steadiness, but the bears. still feeling 1
their oats and their successes of the /
past six months. are likely to press /
for renewed advantages in order 10 add I
10 their profits and Christmas funds.
The weakness in Steel preferred ex-
tended 70 a full point. In many cases /
stocks added i5Gi1 point to the declines /
of the first half of the day. and the /
market entering the second hour OF the !
afternoon was just as duh as dull could /
be.
Investment buying seemed to cease,
profit-takinE increased. and shorts were /
sellers here and there at best prices bid
The indications all point to a weak /
closing at lower prices.
DANNY nrCInILIQ IIEDIT