The sun., 1908-03-22
GOSSIP or Wall STRErE

same price. lhe former stock Is nov D.
per cent dividend basis the latter .a7
per cent security and ils dividend i- ,lmu.
lative The street is filed with doubt A. IN
whether even the present rate on NrN work.
Central can be maintained hardly an. us.
givinRs are expressed regarding the '.'ifs
ability Of the steel Corporation 10 "a. er
cent indefinitely on ~ preferred stock Su'
outside Of Wall Street sentiment has favs
favored New York Central above an. stock
Of It's class while on the other hand steel
preferred still suqcrs from tho prcludra WITH
which industrial issues generally arn vel
by the investment public, I'm all probability
the unreasonable partiality for the ono stock
and the unreasonable prejudice agars' he
other will in time disappear and good ran.
road stocks and first class industrial -.uS
will sell on Al prices meaning substantial
equality Of dividend Weld.
4 broker who believes nolvthrp.Irgan
rumors TO the contrary, thai Tie NrH lu,
Central dividend is row a. low a. o. ', a' t.I
likely to go expresses The opinion 'It' me
stock the first Of the prominent railroad -,.N
to be subjected to dividend reduction ..t
the level Of prices for others whose d. .d,.I'
NAV he reduced later on. The mono. ra-r'
he says, is nov in my opinion, the toNrnV
factor in determining the prices ol s'u.N
when here Ia reasonable certainty a. 'u what
dividends they are going 10 paN. lor'Na
months money now costs ., per cont me
dividend yield on New York Contra. A. rho
current price is about -, pcr cent T. =
said Pennsvlvania's dividend will hr rcdrt oi
10 Q per cent At that rate the yield ou me
market price would be- nearly g., p,l cont
Atchis on and Southern Pacific ON a prr cent.
basis would each yield little more than 80
per cent. and ST. Paul AT per cont Would
Weld about the same rate. 10 INV rni
current prices for all these stocks suggest
what may be expected IN the way oI dl,drnd
reductions, aud II this expectation Is lctI" ed
there " III be in each case a. complete immunity
from unlavorable market effect A. no mo
case Of the great Vanderbilt road ! rhn,
the sentiment that formerly put Nov )or,
Central in class by itself rs no longer factor
except possibly. 10 the extent NJ 4 point W
two where formerly It was good iol ton 10
twenty points.
In Union there is strength aud IN N'ssl
too. said An active trader "aud the -rIrug'h
of these is sufficient to make a strong mar.
ket, Two such strong features would give
strength TO the whole list under almost snv
kind Of circumstances. II ls doubtful. r
there is another stock In the railroad ll-r nat
could exert a. much influence on sentiment
as Union Pacific, and n is practically certain
that no other member of the industri group
could WELD as much influence In depressing
or eeyating prices, not only in this group but
in the market as n whole rs nNed Sta'nS
Steel The united strength OF these rro
stocks combined VAS practically Irresistible
and the bears recognized the fact. A. was
shown 10y their hasty movement to cover.
The retreat Of the bears was not an Orderly
march but wild rush by leaps aud bounds,
in which individuals covered blocks OF thou.
sands Of shares Al once instead OF try inC %
divide m the blocks as they certainly would
have done il less sorely pressed IN Reading
and nited States Htccl particularly thrrs
were individual transactions Of unusua s1e
but in Union Pacific aud other actIye r~suas
also some Of the blocks Nere large enough 10
accentuate the urgency Of the buying
Certainly the room traders have hal m
reason to complain OF the lack Of action IN
Union Pacific in the last week. Plenty Of
opportunity was Afforded not only ior 'ha
scalpinG Of fractional profits but turns Of
couple Of points could have been made within
the limits Of each session by the trader vno
caught the movements right Between 'hs
high and the low Of Monday there was q
range Of 81. points On Tuesday the range
was g.. on Wednesday -. on THURSDAY r
Friday %, and Yesterday ., points Rrrsr
than this a trader could not have asked for
and the granting of such opportunities 10 'hs
professionals usually gains for a stock popu.
larty that becomes market factor lU ~
favor Of no small Importance
New high records for he present wear we're
made by the United States Steel issues and
the strength Of these was shared BY the ,lor,'
cl tEH iHdcpcndcT: rompGnic5. Jo!0iaGy taa
and Republic Iron and Steel preferred v'n
allowance for the dividend recently deducted
from its price, selling az higher levels rhan
AT any other time since the antc-pauic days
The astonishngly favorable report made h7
the United States Steel Corporation for mo
year ended December 81 was the main arGu-
ment In advancing all the stocks but thsrs
were some fanciful Tumors regarding Ihs
independent concerns Of a kind that would
only be considered when backed hv m
wonted activity 10 the stocks that wers lh1
subject Of them.
That old familiar story that the United
States Steel Corporation was about IN take
over the Colorado Fue and Iron Company
was revived by the traders and attracted
quite little interest In quarters vhereth
strength OF the stock Of the latter concern
was not understood. But a more probsb's
explanation could easily be found Only
few weeks ago there were Sumors rejecting
seriously on the credit OF The Colorado con-
Germ and the stock was sold short In soma
quantity by spectators who thought hat th'
company would be obliged in order IN escsrs
receivership 10 pay an exceedingly high Price
for new capital. The amount of The so-.
SHost in the Street is small and whom no
shorts, frightened by the Steel Corportlons
annual report, tried 10 cover they found -
very difficult matter to obtain their require
ments
Among the traders on the floor there vaS
q rumor that some Of the large intcres.- n
American Smelling and Refining " ere ss.'s
out some OF their holdings of this s'1c. end
placing the proceeds in National Lead Tie
story was probably an ontgrovth q! he
movement in Lead-whose srrengtn Ua'
relatively much greater than that Of American
Smelling or AmaTgamated topper bu ~
course II was possible that operations 'h'
very reverse Of what the traders supposed
were under way, and that the ,trrrrh N
Lead was really due TO manipulation ir'rDde1
TO facilitate realizing, and that the hea' ls'
Of American Smelling resulted from nt''7
tlons Of the same character intended rn ,'o'i
an opportunity for accumulation
The story that STANDARD oil ,n''-s.'',
which have always been dominant N 'm'
gamated Copper and have always been 'od.
ers Of National Lead preferred have increase
their holdings Of the stocks Of the larrer oon'