The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-05-05
STOCKS ARE DULL
AND DEPRESSED
Bank Statement Forces Market
Down Second Time
FlRMER TONE OF MONEY
Union Pacific Is Reactlonary and Read
ing Substituted as Sustaining
Force Proves inadequate.
Review of Week.

lew York May 3.-The stock market
today was a dull affair, with some evil
dence of forces of depression In opera
ton against which a desutory resistance
was offered. The opening declines were
generally recovered at one time, but the
bank statement forced the market down
again. Trading was not active or i'm
portant at any time.
The showing of the banks was COM
plicated by the inclusion of the figures
of a new member of the clearing house
and this was held to account for a large
part of the increase in loans and the cash
decreases. The decrease in cash, however,
was somewhat larger than expected, ow-
ing to some outgo to Canada. The frmer
tone of the money market towards the
end of the week confirms the poorer show
inS of the banks.
The fact that Union Pacific continued
reactionary today was against the mar
ke-, and the substitution of Reading for
sustaining force proved Inadequate
Yesterdays poor returns of net earnings
by the Hartman Pacifics, New York
Central and Southern railway received
further discussion and were not help
full factor to the market. The report that
most of the New York CentraPs heavy
increase in operating expenses for the
quarter was found in the pay roll mega
tived the assumption that special room
for improvements was responsible for
the showing and gave it increased force
as an index of general conditions
Reports from the wheat country of
weather conditions revived the influence
of the uneasy feeling oyer the crop pros
poets. The last prices were In the neigh
borhood of the lowest.
The tone of the bond market was heavy.
Total sales, par value, $1,000.
There has been an irregular advance
In prices of stock during the week, large
~ due to the sympathetic effect of
few special movements The most con-
spicuous of them was in Union Pacific,
in which a large proportion of the total
dealings of the week was congested. The
activity and strength of this stock had
bee.l accompanied by a flood of rumors,
none of them verified, and many of
them conflicting Another special center
of strength has been industrials, includ-
ing the smelling stocks This was ac-
counted for by the developments in the
copper trade, violent rebound in the
price of copper in London serving to in
dictate a manipulatve origin for the re-
cent depression of the metal In that
market Confidence Is growing in the
money situation both here and abroad.
Even in Paris the tendency has been
towards greater ease in the money mar
ket and London has been able to meet
the requirements for repayment of pre-
VtouSly acquired obligations to Paris
without interrupting the delaying tenden-
cy of its own market In Berlin the very
laree applications for the new German
an. Prussian loans, Which were offered
in that market, have been accompanied
by an index of growing resources of
capital available in that market
'hn Of ,a
foreign banks reflected the heavy require
ments incident to the May 1 settlements,
and the fact that money markets there
remained tranquil in spite of these bur-
dens had reassurng effect. There was
slight hardening in the New York call
money rate. with the turn of the month,
and some special demands for banking re-
sources here also. The marked effect Of
these demands was regarded as a salts
factory indication of conditions. On the
side of railroads there remains a dis
crepancy in the interest rates. The most
important event of the week in this field
was the announcement by the Atchson
directors of an issue of $26,000,0 900 convert
ible bonds to be offered to stockholders at
par. The interest on the new issue is
fixed at per cent, while previous con-
vertible bond issues subscribed for by
stockholders at par have borne per
cent. The effect was to depress the old
issues ana 10 drOuSe Tears u a ulSlOCd-
ton of existing values all through the
bond market. The confidence in better
ment in the money situation is based to
some extent on the prospect of govern
ment financial operations.
The expectation persists that a slacken-
ing of trade activity is to diminish to
some extent the activity of the demand
for money. The balancing of effects on
general conditions, which may be the net
results from the changes thus involved,
offers the real ground of obscurity in the
present outlook. The feeling of perplexity
was illustrated in the non-committal re-
ception given to the quarterly report of
the United States Steel earnings. AL
though the quarterly earnings and the
tonnage of untitled orders on hand showed
some expected decline from the previous
quarter the fact that they stood at a rec
ord for the first Quarter of any year was
accepted as conclusive of the sustained
conditions of prosperity in that basic In
dustry. The element of doubt is the ques-
ton how far this showing is due to ex-
ecution Of orders growing out of previous
conditions before the difficulties of the
railroads in securing capital for new pro-
jects threw a cloud over the future. Re-
ports from the interior by the railroad