The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-14
STOCK MARKET
 CONTINUES WEAK A Little Furry At the Opening
 Does Not Hold DEMAND NOT VERY HEAVY !
 Not Many Shares of Stocks Are Offered For Liquidation, But the
 Conditions Are Not Favor
 able To Early Advance.
]FMAND NOT VERY HEAVY

New York, February 1S-The stock mar ket today presented graphic evidence that proportion of the conspicuous selling which carried prices downward on Mon day and again in the closing dealings on Tuesday. must have been rather reckless operations on the short side of the mar ket. When these sellers felt impelled to cover their contracts today they found a scarcity of stocks offering and a rather mercurial upshoot of prices resulted. Al most equally striking was the relaxed tone of the market when the needs of the un- covered bears had been satisfied. The in- ference pointed to is that while the gen. uine demand for stocks for the present is light the supply offering in liquidation is also scanty. At occasional intervals there are sales on the market of special stocks that look like liquidation, and this is att tributed to some clearing up of loans In connection with the adjustment of bank ing affairs holding over from the troubled period of last fall. With this exception there does not appear any important sell ing such as would suggest general in clination amongst owners to reduce their
 
 holdings of stocks
 Very positive assertions were made to- day that-+he Union Pacific and Southern Pacific dividends would be reduced ae- companied the free selling of those stocks. The declaration of dividends on these stocks today at unchanged rates accord ingly caught an important short interest uncovered, and they were foremost in the advancing tendency. The coalers also were conspicuous. Not great deal of activity characterized the rise and~the subssquent sag was preceded by a period of hesfta : tion and dullness. Unsettling factors were the pressure on American Smelling and the violent breaks in several of the Gould stocks with no apparent support. Speculative operations in American Smelt- ing are large at all times, and their mo- tiVes diffieult to trace, but importance was attached to reports today of the re- trement of conspicuous engineer from the service of the controlling interests in this company. The weakness of the Gould stocks caused the revival of former reports of projects for new financing by these companies.
 
 The dayis developments bearing on the general situation were not important. Stress was laid on the number of out-of- town buyers appearing in the New York wholesale districts. Reports of some ad- ditional mill assumptions also were made a feature. The pains taken by one of the leading iron trade authorities to depre- ciate the newspaper reports of plants re- sumptions as exaggerated had a modify ing influence on the impression which these reports caused. A fall in the price of copper, both here and in London, was an incident of the day that did not con- duce to holding prices of securities.
 Such small inclination as is perceptible to embark in the stock market is held in abeyance by the desire to see the out come of tomorrow sale of 50000,0 GOO New York city AZ per cent bonds. There were operations in the outside market today in these bonds, ,.when and as issued' at quotations from 1045s to 104sz, which is higher than the average price which bond experts expect to see the bonds sell for.