Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-04
Financial News Letter
BY W. g. NICHOLAS.


NEW YORK. N Y, August 3, 1907.
With almost tiresome reiteration the ma
nipulative character Of the recent advance
in the stock market has been proclaimed in
these letters. The correctness Of this posi-
ton has been demonstrated. On every hard
spot on the advance insiders showed out the
goods. and at the elimination Of the rise
the market was found to be overloaded. The
bull movement was not carried as far as
the market generals would have liked. At
no stage could the public be enlisted. al
though semi-professional element which is
sometimes mistaken for>the public took hold
and bought stocks freely under the belief
that the game would be played through and
prices established on a considerably higher
level. The hollowness of the market was
shown this week when the insiders began
competing too eagerly for the thin market
that had been made by manipulative
methods.
The motive back of the impotent bull
movement was a desire to get rid of as
much Of the load of stocks possible and
transfer the burden and sweat of carrying
the same upon the public before the arrival
Of actual tight money. To help the game
along the banking interests made call
money cheap, hoping thereby to Undue the
light-waisted and short-thinking Spectator
with the idea that the big people would
carry on the campaign until at least the be-
ginning of September. The defect in this
scheme was the fact that important people
all saw its weakness and could not resist
the temptation to feed out the stocks when
ever the chance offered.
X
The stock market situation has been in
trinsically weak. and 1t continues to be
weak, due to certainty that the season of
monetary strtngency will be unusually acute
this year; that industrial and business de-
preston Is impending. and that political
discomfort has assumed such Roadway that
1t is sure to still further disturb enterprise
and impair confidence. Money Is getting on
world ts in need Of funds and borrowers Of
every class are in hot competition for what
ever may be available or come into sight.
Call money continues to be quoted at rea-
money does not reflect the general situa-
ton. 1t Is time money that counts, and so
long as the strongest and most highly ia
vored borrowers are more than willing to
pay usurious rates for cash as fast as 1t &C.
cumulates the outlook cannot be tortured
into anything favorable. The west and
southwest are just now the bankers trou-
be. Reports from those great sections are
disauieting. Interior or country banks in
the pride of their prosperity were imprudent
enough to take on quantities Of strange pa
per. Among other things punches Of short
time notes issued by railroad and industrial
corporations yielding and 8 per cent in
terest. This paper was showed on them by
the city banks Latterly, the country
banks. finding urgent use for their money
at home, have been endeavortng to reds-
count the paper at the reserve centers only
to be informed that the city banks have use
for loanable funds and were afflicted with
troubles of their own. To make matters
worse, the controller at Washington has
been drOppinR hints that these country
banks have been carrying too much Of this
sordid collateral and suggesting the wisdom
OF putting themselves in better shape to
meet local requirements.