The Washington herald., 1908-01-12
WALL STREET NOTES
st. Paul the Bull Leader in
a Brilliant Rise.
OTHERS FAIL TO FOLLOW
Sentiment Generally Against Ad-
vance-EVen Suitable Leader Not
Sufficient to Bring Response De-
sired by Certain EIement-One
Large Holder ReEHins His stock.

NEN lnlh. JAN. ll-H~Dl. dul " ub etltCi-
ed in the first hour to-day as the bull
leader. but 1t failed to rally other stocks.
although It made q rather brilliant dash
itself Sentiment at the moment was
against a further advance. and something
more than a suitable leader was needed
TO bring about resumption of the up
ward movement.
Ordinarily better leader than st. Paul
could not be found, for the stock has long
been regarded as one OF the best ex-
ponents Of the market position OF the
Standard Oil interests. and most buyers
Of stock, either for speculation OF invest
ment, look with favor on particular issues
having the active support of some Of the
strong interests that are influential in
making markets.
This fact received full consideration to-
day when the stock rose to a higher point
than il had before touched on the present
movement but the operators who thought
that the rise in St. Paul would stimulate
activity IN the rest of the market were IN
this respect doomed 20 disappointment
They only succeeded in securing that
one issue from the rest Of the list when
In the last hour the general market be
came strong on the expectation of very
favorable bank statement, and the former
leader dropped into a not very conspicuous
place in the ranks.
Indications as to the extent OF the short
interest in St. Paul furnished by the bor-
rowing demand revealed a very fair clew
20 the cause of the rise. The demand in
tie loan crowd was of considerable size,
and there was such a scarcity Of the stock
that borrowers had difficulty in obtaining
their requirements.
II was said in some quarters that the
scarcity was in a large measure due TO
the refusal of houses which had formally
loaned the stock freshly to lend it any
longer. but in this connection no names
were mentioned, and the rumor may have
had no foundation.
Not the least interesting Of the many
rumors which accompanied the rise in
the stock was one TO the effect that a
large holder who was obliged TO lquidate
at the time Of the money panic has been
recently taking back his line Before
this could be accomplished as a reason
for the rise It would have to be proved
that the liquidation spoken Of had ac-
tually occurred.
When 81. Paul began 10 drop away
from its early prominence on the side Of
advance the stock OF the ueighboring
road. Northwest. was taken in hand and
moved up very rapidly until it showed
a. the end a net gain Of five points on
the day The cause Of this stock rumor
had little 10 say beyond mentioning the
well-known fact that for a considerable
time past Northwest has been steadily
going into the hands OF investors.
Everywhere there was expectation Of
a good bank statement, but nowhere did
anticipation come up TO the usual condi-
tions as disclosed by the figures which
were published after the close OF the
market. The best that had been hoped
for was that the deficit in the item OF
surplus reserve would disappear, and ths
figures showed that not only had this
been attained, but That the banks were
really more than 25oo3,0o) to the good
On a small volume Of transactions, Bal
timore and Ohio gained four points from
| Fridays close. and closed at the top
/ Foreign houses were among the most con.
/ spicuous buyers, and il looked as If Ber
I I'm was buying back some Of the stock
which it had sold last year.
Possibly this was only a statement tC
! frighten the short interest, which in Bal
timore and Ohio has been rather large
for some time past-sJ large that unit
/ a larger supply OF the stock comes from
some quarter than was seen to-day, the
| price may go good deal higher before
/ the last bear Is driven in.
/ The statement Of earnings for Novem
! Der made a bad showing, and much O
/ the selling recently has been on the pros
peCt of even worse returns for the month
/ Of December.
/ It has been an open secret for severa
/ days that the net earnings will be mucf
/ lower than those for the corresponding
month year ago, and the technical 20
sitiOn of the stock seems to have beer
entirely disregarded by certain traders
not remarkable for sagacity in theil
Ieagerness 10 anticipate the publication o
I the figures.
! They may now learn that what every
/ body knows is not always a good reasoI
! for short selling of the market Of ;
/ particular stock