The sun., 1908-05-24
Goss1P on w.aLL sTRKxr.

was uvo ronmoef OF the Gays INST Augubb
when the big ssIck was brandished and the
Attorney General was out TO al his game bag.
As was tho cane last August. the technical
position may have been very weak. There
were any number OF frail bull accounts on
which stop loss orders had been placed
There were any number Of strong bull ao-
counts on which prohts were taken and there
were many stocks In which the protecting
influence Of short covering earlier In the week
had weakened the market standing. A num-
Der Of causes. In short. may have induced this
or that speculator to retreat from bullsh
position. The fact remained that all OF them
saw the occasion for such retreat In the
oen illusions drawn from the Administrations
suit against the New Haven.
In some very important railroad and bank
ing circles men were laughing over Mr.. Bona
parties action against the New Haven. Some
Of the laughter was good natured and some Of
IL ironical but mono Of 1t was OF the hearty.
wholesome kind which shows content and
satisfaction with tho entire drift Of things.
Such OF the Jokes as were good natured were
based on the frequent pilgrimages Of Presi-
dent Mellen Of the New Haven to President
Roosevelt. for In certain places 10 was con-
sidered rare humor that Mr.. Melen, who In
railroad circles has occupied q position like
that Of JACOB Riis In sociological circles.
should suddenly find himself among the
prescribed. The humor became irony In tfye
circles Of those who had previously been
branded a. malefsctors of great wealth.
Here illusions to Mr.. Msllens worship Of the
prophet were treated Systematically. Friends
OF Mr.. Hartman reminded friends Of Mr..
Msllen that Mr.. Hartman was once a good
and true friend Of the powers at Washington
and sloated exceedingly. But both the humor
and the sarcasm we're accompanied by the
same market operations. The wit and the
cynto. as far as the market was concerned,
Wed with one another in the sale Of stocks.
Last August when stocks were being
thrown overheard by the carload influential
members Of tho Standard Oil party insisted
that they were simply standing idly by.
They were not raidins the market. they said.
but they ere perfectly free to admit that
they were not encouraging any of their
friends to buy or hold on to securities Of
any kind whatsoever. They were not talk
ing yesterday. but the opinion was prevalent
In brokerage circles that they were acting
as assiduously a. possible. It was believed
that distribution Of stocks taken on by them
In the course Of the last six weeks had begun
earlier In the week, but the indications of
distributlon,o on large scale were not widely
observed until Friday. To-day such indica-
tions seemed obvious to all. A broker with
very good sources OF information estimated
that the Hartman Standard Oil party had
put on the market 100000 shares OF stock In
three days. Tho only surprise elioited by
this statement was that the market had
SUFFICIENT strength to absorb such offerings
without complete collapse Of prices
An interview quoting Mr.. Mellen a. sur
prised at the action Of the Administration
was compared with Mr.. Harrimans puzzled
Where do I stand2" interrogation In the
Sydney wehater correspondence.
A single lot of 100 shares of New Haven
went at 1855. ~ points OF the last previous
sale.
More than three-ausrters Of a million shares
were dealt In, so that the market was quite
as active as any market since the panic.
For Saturday session. espe cially q session
when brokers were bent on getting away
early for the festivities with the Boston ex-
change members. the market displayed
extraordinary life. Distribution Of long
stock was undoubtedly the greatest stimulus.
but as this stock was distributed and the
market reacted stop loss orders were un-
covered in all the commission houses Floor
traders and other professional operators
just naturally kept looking for these orders.
and the manner in which they found them
and cut them loose was another reminder
Of many of the days of last year. Margin
clerks had not buster day since last fall
"If any one here has stocks, said the head
u
own fault. To every customer who has given
us an order we have sug gested the advisability
Of placing stop loss order few points below
the market. Most Of them have done so, but
in every advance such as that Of the past six
weeks there are speculators who extend their
lines as paper profits accumulate. The
slump to-day has put many Of these specula-
tors into temporary retirement.
Illinois Central. which broke Ave points to
Onion Pacific's 81 points, again showed q
disposition to act in harmony with the Harr-
man stocks.
The reincarnation OF former Secretary OF
the Treasury Shaw attracted attention in
industrial circles. but II was not serious
attention. His comment on the acuu-
sition Of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Com
pany by the Steel Corporation was no.
where considered to be. the sort OF comment
he would have made last fall when he was
trust company president. Unquestionably.
il was remarked, MIR. Shaw was then as
pleased as any one else in the financial section
over transaction which definitely concluded
the banking troubles here and marked the
end OF the panic. The criticism. 1t was agreed,
came with none too good grace from Mr..
Shaw, and the only notice taken of 1t was
by professionals. who insisted that even .
weak voice might arouse anita gonism against
the Steel Corporation. with a possibility of
arouslng an Administration proceeding
against 1t,
In the early part OF the session brokers
and traders generally were rather pleased at
the recession. Most OF the conservative
men In the Street had deprecated the rapidity
of the advance had insisted that II was not
warranted by general conditions. unless dis
counting the very distant future. and had
predicted reaction. The response p these
oritioiams had been principally to the effect
that II general conditions did not warrant
an advance technical conditions did. The
floating supply Of stocks. It was said. was
small. money was easy and nothing was
simpler than the conduct Of bull campaign
under such circumstances. In one important
respect this technical position has been
weakened. The floating supply Of stocks
| is no longer small. II has been augmented
by sales from investors and by the distribu-
tion Of very large lines on the part Of apecula-
tors. Other conditions remained the same
until the action against the New Haven.