The Washington herald., 1908-08-23
MARKET IN TURMOIL
Greatest Trading Done Since
August 18, 1906.
ONE MILLION SHARES SOLD
Largest Part OF the Transactions
Made Were in Eleven Stocks.
for Two Years In the History of
wall Street Speculation.

New York. Aug. 2-In the two hours
session on the New York Stock Exchange
to-day there were transactions. real OF
fictitious. in 1.156.0lO shares OF stock II
was the first million shares on Saturday
since August IS 1876. when an active and
broad speculation was stimulated by the
declaration OF Unexpectedly large div
dends on Southern Pacific and Union
Pacific. OF the total transactions more
than million were supplied by dealings
n eleven stocks. and in this respect ex-
perienced brokers' said the day was
unique in the history Of the stock eX-
change II also stood cut above all others.
many brokers charged. IN a bold display
Q fmaaipulative tactics and in evidence
Of the matching Of orders Many OF them
at the close Of business were demanding
a close scrutiny OF the sheets. as they go
through the stock exchange clearing
house on Monday. and rigid investiga-
rion. Of the charges Of the use Of manipu-
larive tactics detrimental 10 the interests
OF the exchange
There were probably some persons in
Wall street to-day who understood the
extraordinary operations in stocks which
made the two-hour session one not soon
10 be forgotten by those who witnessed
Il. The day viii so down in the history
cf speculation under some characterlZa-
ZION not yet guessed at, and il may well
be doubted whether in the interval be-
tween the noon closing and the opening
OF Monday freed from the excitement
under which they acted. specUlatOrs viii
not regret q course the principal result
OF which must be impressed strongly
upon the mind Of the average trader ILat
the present market is no place for him
Some Extraordinary Operations.
Enormous blocks Of stocks were thrown
around as lightly as If they were frac-
t.o1aI lots. but the results were small,
cut Of all proportion 10 the means by
which they were accomplished IN Great
Northern. for instance, usually "a stock
IN which transactions are of moderate
volume. blocks OF 200 OF 500 shares and
upward were not uncommon. while many
OF much larger size were frequently han
died in other parts Of the market There
was one Of 1900 shares i1 United States
Steel common. another Of an equal mum
Der O. shares IN Reading. and II the lat
ter there was q 11.6-1 share lot. followed
by one OF 300 shares al the same price
while the second largest transaction IN
United States steel embraced 500 shares
The transactions in this stock were around
- amounting 10 =l.lyJ shares il q few
minutes.
Market Was Erratic.
Fluctuations Of halt a point or there
sbcuts between sales occurred frequently
in tEe active stocks. and the market was
about as errat.c and Irregular as could
be imagined. few stocks holding the same
course for any great length OF time. and
q number OF issues declining with dif-
fe-au- degrees Of weakness while Others
We're strong There was al all times con
tending Influences. Of which the effects
were much smaller than usual one house
supposed 20 be heavily short. was a
buyer 20 the extent OF upward OF l1l.or-
shares IN the first hour. and obtained lis
very large requirement easily. Gut while
bG-inE openly L may have been q seller
through other brokers 50 that al the
end OF the session its market position may
rot have been essentially changed
Million shares Traded.
The voiume of transactions was well
above Lp5.G59 shares. q total rarely
reached by Saturday session. and ore
exceeded by only a few Of the 1uI.
sessions since the beginning Of the pres
eEt year At the close. the market had a
downward tendency. 10 which The pri1ci-
pal exceptions were Reading. American
Smelling and Refining. and the Hill
stocks Southern Pacific and Union
Pacific closed at declines on the day
while large gains were shown in the Rock
Island issues and New York Central. and
moderate advances in Northern Pacific
Great Northern. and Amaigamated Cop
Per As a rule. the highest prices were
reached about the end OF the first hour
and there was probably heavy dlstribu,
IlCn from that time 10 the close
Fridays Market Strong.
On the previous day the aggregate O.
sales was but 550000 shares In a hve-houl
Session No new developments OF any
market Importance had come out in The
period between Fridays closing and to-
days opening. public interest in the mar.
ket was at a low ebb. and few had any
cause 70 anticipate any sensational ac-
Lvity- AstOnishment accordingly was
general when, at the very opening. trans
actions were made with the utmost posi-
BE rapidity IN very large blocks Of stocks
prices nuctuated widely between sales
and the utmost confusion prevailed
around the posts where the trading in the
days active stocks took place An ex.
ample Of the erratiC character OF tbs
trading was supplied by AmalgamateC
Copper which. after an opening trans
action Of 100 shares at 76s4 sold al 75s.
on an Offering Of ZOO shares. and imme-
diately jumped 10 ~ On a sale of bu
so shares Great Northern, an old auC
standard investment stock. also Jumped
half a point between sales SimUltaue
ously in other stocks selected for tht
days display there took place wide jump.
between sales, and in all Of these selling
back and forth block after block in ex
cess Of 2o5o shares
Reading Most Active.
IN the course Of the session there wer,
transactions in ninety-seven stocks
Eleven Of these transactions aggregate,
a total or los4.050 shares. leaving a bal
ance Of but q. 90 shares to show for al
the dealings in all the others. The clever
stocks which made Up this million shar,
total were Araalgamated Gotten. i 500
SneIters. 1890. Great Northern. $500
New York Central 5000; Norther1
Pacific, $500; Reading. 21l. 100; Rocl
Island. 51.0o0; Rock Island preferred. IS,
500; Southern Pacific. 57.700. Union Pacific
1211o0. Steel common, 159.60a-
While this manipulation was IN progress
81 the chosen eleven, the recording ma
chinery Of the exchange became clogge,
by the multiplicity OF the transactions
and the tape ran far behind the market
Closed Stronger Than Friday.
Some OF the stocks in which the manip