The Washington herald., 1908-03-22
WALL STREET NOTES
Railroad Shares More Fa-
yOred Than InduStrialS.
NEW YORK CENTRAL MAY CUT
FinRnciers Wonder If Present Divi-
dends Can Be Kept Up-One Broker
Says Money Rate Is Governing
Factor In Determining Prices of
,stocks-NationaI Lead Active.

New York, March 21-New York Cen
tral and United States Steel preferred
lave recently sold at about the same
price
The former stock is now on per cent
dividend basis. The latter is per cent
security and its dividend is cumulative.
The street is filled with doubt as TO
whether even the present rate on New
York Central can be maintained Hardly
any misgivings are expressed regarding
the entire ability of the Steel Corporation
10 pay per cent indefinitely on its pre-
ferred stock.
But outside Of Wall street sentiment
has always favored New York Central
above any stock Of its class. while. on
the other hand. Steel preferred still suf-
fers from the prejudice with which in
dustrial issues generally are viewed by
the investment public In all probability
the unreasonable partiality for the one
stock and the unreasonable prejudice
against the other VIII In time disappear,
and good railroad stocks and first-class
industrial issues will sell at prices mean
ing substantial equality Of dividend yield
A broker who believes notwithstanding
all rumors 10 the contrary. that the New
York Central dividend is now as low as
II is at all likely TO go. expresses the
opinion that this stock. the first OF the
prominent railroad issues 20 be subjected
to dividend reduction, sets the level of
price for others whose dividends may be
reduced late on.
THE money rate" he says. "is now. IN
my opinion, the governing factor in deter
mining the prices OF stocks when there is
reasonable certainty as 10 what dividends
they are going TO pay. Twelve months
money row costs 3 IA per cent. The diyi-
dend yield on New York Central at the
current price is about 5 IA per cent Il
is said Pennsylvania dividend will be re-
duced to 6 per cent. At that rate the Weld
on the market price would be nearly 81
per cent Atchison and Southern Pacific.
on 4 per cent basis. would each Weld
little more than 3 Ii per cent. and St
Paul. at 8 per cent would yield about the
same rate To nay mind. current prices
for all these stocks suggest what may be
expected in the way OF dividend reduc-
tions. and. if this expectation is realized
there Will be in each case as complete
.+''.iAAAAts AAttA htAAdNuINhAt AltIhtI eject
as in the case Of the great Vanderbilt
road"
In union there is strength and In
Steel too. said an active trader. and
the strength Of these is sufficient 70 make
strong market"
Among traders on the floor there was
rumor that some OF the large interests
in American Smelling and Refining were
selling out some OF their holdings OF this
stock and placing the proceeds IN Ma
tionai Lead The story was probably an
outgrowth OF the movement In lead
whose strength was relatively much
greater than that OF American Smelling
or Amalgamated C0pper-but of course
u was possible that operations the very
reverse OF what the traders supposed
were under way and that the strength OF
lead was really due to manipulation in
tended TO facilitate realizing. and that
the heaviness OF American Smelling re-
suited from operations OF the same char
acter intended to afford an opportunity
for accumulation.