New-York tribune., 1908-09-23
STOCK SALES OF l,426,259
RECORD FOR THE YEAR.
Prices Drop Badly, but Rally Is an
SScing at End.

Trading in the stock market yesterday was on
the largest scale Of the present year. sales ag-
gregating 1.426.25e shares. and price changes
varied more than at any other time since the
panic last fall. On the execution of tremendous
selling orders the active stocks. such as Union
Pacific. Reading. Southern Pacific, Amalgamated
Copper and American Smelling, broke from 3 to
points with great violence. The market closeo'
however. with a substantial rally in full swing
which had brought prices back several points
from the low marks.
Opinions were conflicting TO just what
caused the heavy liquidation which went on
during large part of the session 1t was salo
I'm some quarters that William Rockefeller ana
Henry C F'rick were giving out the ORDERS OUT
these two names are always used when WaI
Street is at loss to explain market movements
The most probable explanation seemed 10 De
that politics was playing q large part the hold-
ers Of weakly margined accounts having become
thoroughly frightened at the recent political dis
closures At the low points there was substan-
tial support which resulted in a rapid retreat Of
the shorts toward the close.
The market opened above Mondays closing
prices and held firm for few minutes, with
Union Pacific above 154, Southern Pacific above
par and Reading above 127 Liquidation on a
large scale soon broke out, however, and Union
Pacific dropped TO 1873, Reading to l2O&,
Southern Pacific to 962s, United States Steel
common TO 41M. from 43A: Copper to 6S7s,
from 7l%: Smelters TO 20, from S212; St Paul
TO 127A. from 1901; Anaconda TO Se9s, from
42A: Consolidated Gas to 1876, from 13912; Great
Northern preferred to 125A from 12714 Louis
vile & Nashville TO 10OA. from 1853; Northern
Pacific TO 131, from 134, and United States Steel
preferred TO 105k. from 10724
A desutory rally set in at the low levels, and
the whole active list was from TO points
better half an hour before the close of the mar
ket- Then. on a sudden, when the market
seemed to have steadied clique of bear trad
ers made determined drive, with the result
that most of the market leaders went down to
the low points of the day once more. On this
drive Union Pacific made its low mark at 1888
and United States Steel common also sold at
its lowest figure, 41h. At this juncture, how
ever, there was strong support, and prices were
snapped back from to points in less than
five minutes. The close was decidedly ner-
vous. but at advancing quotations
The heaviest losses sustained for the day in
the active stocks were 3ss in Reading. 1t in
Consolidated Gas. 2lb in Louisville & Nash
Vile and M in United States Steel Union Pa
cifc lost ! point and Southern Pacific closed
only 4 down. Northern Pacific was off only Il,
while Great Northern preferred, which the
regular quarterly dividend Of q was declared
after the market closed on Monday, up 4
per cent. Smeters gained 3 and Copper closed
unchanged. Erie common, which was strong
throughout the trading. closed at 2934, up q.
ST. Paul also left off with gain of Il point, at
$50.
The erratic character of the market is best
shown by the movement of Union Pacific. AT
2:40 O'Clock this stock was quoted at 1929 on
the tape and was offered at 149a4 on the floor
Of the exchange. AT the close it was 153. Stop
loss orders Were caught in great number
throughout the day, and may stocks doubtless
PASSED from weak into strong hands.
It was the most active days trading the
Stock Exchange since March IA. 1907, when sales
aggregated PSI. 600 shares The biggest day Of
the current year prior 10 yesterday May
20. when sales totalled 1.415.565. In the panic
last October the biggest single days trading
was 1.3T4.O00 shares on October p.
The following table shows the high points
reached by the leading stocks in the bull
movement which eliminated ten days ago, the
low points Of yesterday and the heavy declines
which have been recorded in the brief interim: