The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-19
SOME RECOVERY
 IN STOCK MARKET. Short Sales of Previous Day
 Cause the Advance TRADING IS VERY LIGHT Copper Industry Is Depressed and This Has It's Effect Upon Other Stocks While Railroad Shares
 Are Still Down.
TRADING IS VERY LIGHT

New York, February 1S.-The short con tracts which were put out in yesterdays declining stock market made the source of the demand which carried prices to- ward recovery today. The bears were prompted to cover partly by lack of veri- fcation of some of the rumors which helped to carry prices downward yester- day. but more decidedly by the fact of the decline offering a small profit in the buy ing in of stocks The market dwindles to narrowed proportions from day to day, and the professional traders are eager, therefore, to take a quick profit when it offers. The recovery today was spot,y and interrupted. and there were points of continued weakness in the list. As the re- covery proceeded. the demand lessened and left the trading at times in con djtion of stagnation.
 News of the day offered no evidence of important changes in the conditions which have led up to the present dull and neg lected market. Items from scattered sources reporting the resumption of fac tory operations which had been suspend cd on account of the financial depression pIOUlpl d DeileI III d BTdQuul TeCupeIdliOH in the industrial condition, but the re- action Of additional curtaiment in other places or other lines of industry leave conviction unsettled as to the progress of the revival The copper industry is center of depression, and securities of companies involved in it are showing low CT prices in some cases than prevailed durfnC fha m pic onisoda of Ia et fall That metal declined again today both in Lon don and at the New York metal ex- change, and accommodating stocks in Eu rope threaten a discontinuance of the only demand that has been a factor of any im- portance in the trade for some time past. Discussion Is kept alive by the marked weakness of copper, in contrast with iron and steel, owing to the decision of the principal producers in that industry to hold prices Reports persist in the finan clal district of a possible reconsideration of this detention by the leading steel in- terests. reason given for holding prices at the present time Is the unlikelihood of lower prices attracting effective demand from the railroads until conditions are propitious for the financing of new pur- chases of material. Securities of com panies with large maturing obligations to meet and which have shown at the same time heavy inroads in the rate of earn ings, continue to suffer in the price show ing in the market. For some of these a special explanation for weakness is of fered in the selling of stock which was distributed in the form of dividends In lieu of cakh.
 The Gould stocks, especially Missouri Pacific, selling below 34 today, touched a lower price than for many years past. Much interest attaches to the action to be taken on the Erie preferred stock divi- dends, the usual time for action being near at hand. As the last dividends de- clared In interest-bearing scrip have not been passed upon by the New York public service board, they have not been dis tributed yet. There was common down. ward tendency in discount rates in Lon don and on the continent which was to the advantage of investment security. Foreign exchange here, however, made further strong rebound, bringing the ad- vance from last weeks figure for demand sterling to fully 1 cent in the pound. This also is in spite of a distinctly stronger tone in the local market for time money. Retransfer of funds reunited from abroad for subscriptions to the city bond Issue, and for bids, were unsuccessful, IS gwen as part explanation of the movement or the exchanges.
 There was active trading in the New York city bonds when issued at recov- cry in price. Sharp declines occurred m