The Washington herald., 1908-05-11
MARKET BIPUZZLESALL
Tendency of Prices Produces
Uncertainty in Street.
RISE DUE TO MANIPULATION
Spectators who Observe the Condi-
tiOns Closely Cannot Find that
Professionals Are InvOIved-Ad-
vance Il Concentrated ia a few
stoeks-FIoating supply Reduced.

vance IL concentrated in few
stocks-FIoating supply Reduced,
New York. May 10.-It is undeniable
that the stock market recently has been
q good deal of puzzle TO those habitual-
" giving their attention to such affairs
IN a certain sense Of the word. the
stock market is always puzzling. since no
one can foretell the immediate course Of
security values; but the tendency fol-
lowed by prices last week and for a
considerable time before this has been
such as to produce more than the usual
amount Of uncertainty as to the true
state OF the market in the minds Of a
great many people in the financial dis
ulct This is not because confusion has
been created by the obvious fact that
the rise IN the market has been due 10
out-and-out manipulation, since every
one at all familiar with such matters un-
derstands that a rising tide in prices
after period Of prostration succeeding
a financial panic has its origin almost
invariably in such manipulation
| The spectators of Wall street whose
daily life Il is to continually scan the
financial sky for any signs Of change.
however trihing, in business conditions
usually discSTer long before the great
mass Of the public whether affairs Of
business are on the point of mending or
''worsening:' and their buying Of stocks
which is conducted with the idea. of sell
ing again always in view, hardly ever
/ fails to precede the purchase Of securi-
/ ties by investors who DO not decide to
take this action until conditions Of pros
perity are realized
No Big Operators In.
The stock market OF recent weeks.
| however, has hardly borne the signs Of
an advance Of this character. Il has. en-
! listed the support Of almost none of the
! large professional stock exchange cper-
ators. and the general public has been
interested in It not at all The market
| has been advanced by a species Of brute
/ force buying by large capitalist powers,
and the strong suspicion is that the pur-
chases made, aside from those coming
/ from the short interest IN the market,
/ have been dictated not by any consider
alton Of general conditions. that is TO say.
/ not because of a belief that the busi-
ness Of the country viii be notably bet
/ ter in months near at hand. but through
/ a desire TO facilitate certain large opera
uons IN the financial world, 20 Wit. the
I borrowing Of great sums of money by
various corporate enterprises.
/ The rise has really been concentrated
( in few stocks. Other very prominent
/ stocks. such as the shares of the United
States Steel Corporation, have changed
/ almost not al all in the last fortnight.
/ and, moreover. in the last ten days. al
though the general market has worn the
I appearance Of decided strength and trans
+ actions in it have reached large total.
each day the average price Of stocks in
/ this period has really moved upward bur
little
Average Shovvs Increase.
The average. too, is at the end Of an ad-
vance covering the greater portion Of the
last two months of $14 share in the
/ price Of the leading railway stocks and
OF Sl3 a share in the price Of the leading
1 Industrial stocks. a rise that il is needless
to say is something out OF the ordinary.
+ tt should not be a matter of wonder
/ that many students OF market conditions
should be fearful OF making purchases
4 lation under such circumstances. and
should be impressed with doubt whether
/ the market can sustain itself when the
capitalist buying that has been referred
/ to ceases unless the people Of the country
at large shall manifest greater enthu-
/ siasm over the financial and business Sit
uation than they now do
The truth is that there IS a good deal 20
/ he said both for and against the stock
market at the present time. The fail in
/ prices that went on from January % to
I FEBRUARY II placed values in a state Of
equilibrium following the very rapid pre-
! vious recovery after last years panic
( and whether the succeeding rise has been
/ in the nature Of d safe discount OF Of an
+ overdiscOunt Of an approaching expansion
I Of business operations in general IS some
/ thing that must be seriously considered
/ In favor Of the market stand those ele-
ments of the situation that have been so
/ constantly commented upon of late that
/ they must now enjoy wide popular appre-
citation.
Floating supply Reduced.
The floating supply Of stocks in tbs
market has been heavily reduced by pur-
/ chases made for investment in the panic
days, and To a considerable extent since
I
verify is atTested not simply by the daily
/ experience of Wall street. but by the
/ books of all the leading corporations
/ which show a large growth in the num-
/ Der of stockholders. There is a vast
accumulation of money in all the imam
! ciaI centeTs of this country and Of the
worId-with the exception of Germany
and Japan-which is exercising a con-
/ stantly depressing influence upon time
money rates and must have the slow
/ bat sure effect of making it easier for
! merchants and corporations, even those
! whose business has been materially de-
pressed to obtain funds for necessary
uses.
The country's crop outlook IS excellent,
as was amply borne out in the govern
ment's crop report for April published
+ last Friday. showing only a slight de-
/ terioration in average agricultural cO1di-
tions during the month which affected,
almost exclusively. the Western portions
of Kansas and Nebraska COntrariwise.
there Is little. if any, improvement. at the
moment Ia the countrys legitimate busi-
! ness affairs The weight of political ap-
prehensions. though little referred 10 in
/ Wall street discussion, bears heavily upon
/ business men everywhere. and there is
/ a common understanding of the extent Of
the disaster in which the business inter
+ ests of the country would be involved If
/ by any mischance the present incumbent
/ OF the Presidential chair should Be seated
4 there for another four years. It is, clear
that the production of certain articles, or
i at least the producing capacity Of the
country in many lines IS for the time
being still greatly in excess OF current
/ consumption.
! IN the mining world the price Of copper
! is still quoted at d level very little above
the cost of production of the commodity