The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-07
STOCK MARKET IS
WILDLY EXCITED
Varied and Violent Fluctuations
Break Records
MYSTERY is IMPRESSIVE
Rich Mems Panic, Is the Way the Con-
diton Is Defined In Stock Ex-
change Neghborhood.
Without Parallel.
MYSTERY is IMPRESSIVE

New York, March 6-Wall street has
seldom, if ever, seen such varied and vio-
lent fluctuations in prices in securities as
those which occurred today. There have
been panics in the stock market when
prices fell apparently into the bottomless
abyss; there have been boom periods
when the bold operations of daring spec
ulators seemed to be carrying prices Him.
itably upward; but the feverish upward
and downward alterations which char
acterized the market have had few par
allels The market was two-sided from
the start These followed a period of
abrupt reversals of the general current
of prices and ultimately excited disor-
derby movements at cross currents The
whole movement was without news to ex-
plain it, but the volume and the aggress-
iveness Of the opera tons were sufficient
to stamp them as coming from sources
of Importance. 1t is this implied import
ance of the origin of the present deal
ings and hte mystery which hangs over
it which have given to its impressiveness
the speculative imagination.
Wall street parlance has found a
phrase rich mems panic to define the
condition. This is based on the SUPPOSE
ton quite commonly held in the neighbor-
he I'd OF the stock exchange that men
of great wealth who accumulated large
holdings of stock last fall finding them
selves without prospect of selling out to
advantage created the present public dis
tas for the stock market 1t is believed
tina. they have been prompted as well by
the urgency of other calls on them, due
to the universal pressure for capital and
by fears of being overtaken by period
of industrial depression to liquidate their
holdings as best they may.
The action of the market for several
days and of special stocks, notably has
given color to this theory of the events
in ,rogress. Into this condition of senti-
ment was precipitated today a report
tina: carried with it an inference that
the supposedly distressed capitalists were
in reality taking advantage of the un-
settlement of values to carry out another
daring exploit.
The,rumor alleged with positiveness that
certain large centralized holdings of
Reading had been taken over by Harri-
man securing his control of the prop
erty. The heavy liquidation of yesterday
in Atchison was alleged to be of Union
Pacific holdings to provide resources for
the Reading operation. The bears in Read
ing were thrown into a panic and there
wa a scramble to cover all through the
list The report was impossible of vertical
ton, and its pla"sible and likely fea-
tirre as to leave the
opiK.,D at sea. The pess were intimi-
dated and were disinclined to pursue their
attacks on prices of other stocks. The
uying of Reading came into the mar
ket in the midst OF a drastic liquidating
movement in Canadian Pacific which had
forced that stock down over points be-
much the same effect as the violent slump
break the whole market. The reversal
of the movement was all the more alb
rupt and violent on that account.
There was also very heavy liquidation
in Pennsylvania, Amalgamated Copper
Hill stocks and of Reading. however,
was constant throughout the day Atchi-
son also met no such selling pressure as
sistante in the market already had di-
vide6 specuativ sentimnt and the Read
ing incidcS.t turned prices directly up
corning general conditions The last prices
were generally the best of the day, and
an active buying movement was in force
Bonds were irregular.
Total sales of bonds, par value 81, 49,
O0O
United States IS advanced 4 per cent