New-York tribune., 1908-11-13
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
STEEL 1T RECORD PRICE.
Securities. as Rule, Gam on Day
Movements Illinois Centrdts s
Successful Bond Issue. -..-


tinus+ion OF the liquidation that marked the
course of trading the preceding day, the
greater number of securities became strong uh-
der the lead of United States Steel common ana
several other active issues, the movement pelng
materially helped by the immediate response 10
an Illinois Central bond offering. The demand
for the issue greatly exceeded the supply, ana
inside of two hours after the announcement
that the company had authorized S1lO.oOOooV
of refIIndins bonds the bankers handling the
oneration refused TO receive further subscrip-
tions for the s2O,Oo0o0O of the total put on sale
The bonds were offered to the public at SO and
interest with q price Of 97i5 and interest 10
bankers the good figure received by the com
pany and the tremendous inquiry Tor the Sc
c1lrities making the issue one Of the most sue
cessf11! offered in recent years. There is a large
amount of idle money ready for investment In
good securities and the railroads apparently Will
experience no difficulty in financing their future
requirements Another interesting announce
ment Yesterday was the declaration by the dt-
rectors of the Colorado & Southern Railway
Of an initial dividend of per cent on the com
ranv's common stock The transactions in
United States Steel common were much heavier
than in any ether security dealt in amounting
to more than 244,000 shares, the movement rep
resenting an active public demand for the issue
and operations by big Wall Street interests who
believe that the outlook for the new business
in the iron and steel trade warrants the eX
pectation of a higher dividend rate, though It is
ton will take any action in the matter until
spring The stock made new high record at
56S. Less interest was taken in the HarTl-
man shares both Union and Southern Pacific
closing al small fractional losses. Strength was
shown in many of the usually inactive issues,
including Tennessee Copper. which on a large
volume Of trading enjoyed a net gain Of 31s-
Copper prices were slightly lower in London,
but held firm here The general market was
irregular at the close. and traders who bought
to even up on their days transactions reported
that they found little difficulty in getting stock
Interior exchange New York at middle
Western points is moving in favor Of this centre,
but the Pacific Coast is calling upon the East
for funds in connection with the financing of the
citrus crop transfers through the local Sub
Treasury of $500 900 already having been made.
The needs of California, however, will not be
extensive and will not be a factor in the money
market as far advancing rates is concerned,
but It is believed that the general tendency of
loan quotations in the of the next six
months will be in the direction OF higher level
as a consequence of the requirements Of the
mercantile community. incident TO business ex-
pansion 20 federal Treasury demands, To Stock
Exchange borrowing and to new financing by
the railroads II is not expected that the trans
portation companies will fail to take advantage
OF present attractive rates of money to put out
new short term notes. and later. when bond
quotations reach higher level, 70 place on the
market new mortgage issues, while it is not
unlikely the near future will something in
the way Of government financing that will serve
to bring about reduction in bank holdings.
Regarding the federal Treasury. II is interesting
to note that so far in tn current month gov
eminent receipts have exceeded those in the cor
responding time a year ago. indicating that
general business Improvement is being felt BIZ
the national revenues. This is particularly en-
couraging in view of the heavy deficit recorded
since the first OF the fiscal year. Further evi-
dence OF the strength Of financial conditions in
London presented yesterday in the weekly
return Of the Bank of England. which showed 4
percentage of reserve TO liabilities of $500 the
highest for this week in many years and com
pairing with eight-year average Of al 81 per
cent. The bank has 35,50o000 bullion in its
vaults. and II therefore is not surprising that
British bankers feel no concern over the Con
tinenta demand for gold. At this time last venr
the banks percentage OF reserve stood at 4052
with minimum rate OF discount of per cent
against rate of 2i2 per cent at present
Railroads reporting earnings for the month Of
October show a total decrease from the same
month a year ago Of 416 per cent which com
pares with a loss in September OF SAT per cent
1887 per cent in August and 1897 per cent in
July. The increased foreign demand for wheat