Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-02-14
FEATURES OF MARKET
Special Significance to Course
of Prices Lately.
BEAR ASSAULTS RESISTED
Value of Old Maxim About Buying
Is Exploited.
RECKONING OF WISE ONES
Many Buyers Holding Up for Con-
gressional Action on the Tariff.
Bond Activity.
Special Correspondence Of The Star.

NEW YORK February i3, 1909
On the theory that the stock market
discounts future events with unerrine
certainty special significance should at
tach TO the course of prices lately.
There has been steady creeping VI
of prices throughout the general list
There is nothing in the general busi-
ness situation as 1t stands at present
to Justify any such stock market action.
There has not been a time since the
panic sixteen months ago. that actu-
al existing physical conditions have ap-
peared to worse advantage on the sur
face than now. Yet, In spite of this the
stock market has continued firm for sew
eral weeks. resisting every and all bear
assaults and more than holding its own.
This to the ordinary observer has been
a most unaccountable market phenome-
non.
One of the features of the market
which has been only dinly understood by
the general run of SPECTATORS has been
the steady demand from the great semi
investing class. the class with money and
the courage to buy outright or fortify
marginal purchases with big deposits. The
rule these days is Is to 80 per cent mar
gins on speculative purchases instead Of
the old-time . to 10 per cent. There has
not be frightened out of its holdings by
the stereotyped "shake-out" which on SO
many, many previous occasions proved
efficacious in the separation of the sucker
from his money. These days; this public,
strongly fortified in the belief that the
country is on the eve of tremendous new
development, averages down whenever the
market breaks. buying additional stocks
on the breaks instead of being frightened
out of what has already been accumu-
lated. This makes the recognized meth
DDS of stock manipulation extremely haz-
ardous.
For weeks past the bears have made
continuous small losses. They have at
tackled the market insistently, and now
and then have succeeded in breaking spe-
cial stocks several points, only to find
that when they tried to cover they had
TO buy on a scale up, a proceeding in
which there was no money for the oper-
ator. Unquestionably Wall street now
has to deal with an educated public. The
success that attended purchases during
Almost the whole OF last year has taught
the rank and file Of spectators and In
vestors the financial value of the old
maxim to buy on reactions instead OF
bulgeS.
For the next two or three months the
dominating Issue in the stock market is
likely to be the tariff. Individual stocks
VIII be worked up and down on news from
WashfnSton as to what Congress will do
In the various schedules. This tariff in
check an upward sweep in prices due to
q growing sentiment that whenever the
tariff thing Is settled business will revive
The big men Of the street and those who
nave amAssed great fortunes In specula-
ton and promotion gained their big profits
by discounting the future and buying
when stocks were low. knowing that with
In discernible distance the mighty cur
rents would produce results with mathe-
NAUTICAL certainty. Reports from every de-
partment Of industry are to the definite
effect that mills and factories are banking
with certainty on a tremendous revival
IN business before the end of the year.
This IS particularly noticeable in the iron
and steel trade.
Orders Held in Allegiance.
Orders for millions of tons of rails,
structural material and other products are
being held In allegiance pending the action
of Congress on tariff Buyers are holding
off until they know just what is going
TO be done or until they can get a line
which will enable them to see themselves
out with safety. This condition Is almost
inevitable to the unsettled situation A
trade publication of recent date gave sew
eral columns to an enumeration of items
of construction work which were held I'D
until Congress acts What is true in
iron and s,eel applies also to other
branches of industry.
The province of speculation is to antici-
pate results, and for that reason the wise
ones in Wall street are hardening to the
view that the next great market boom
will not wait for Congress to act but will
assume that a settlement whatever 1t
may be, will liberate the forces of manu-
facture and start the wheels going in
every direction. Certainly the course of
prices since the first of the year is con-
frmatory of this theory.
The money market has been acting to
the advantage OF bond makers and bond
sellers. The Treasury withdrawal of a
matter OF S35,OCO.OO0 from government de-
positories hardened the interest rates
somewhat. but otherwise produced
slight effect. Ii did not brighten cor
porations into unnecessary competition for
funds. These people feel that they will
not be the losers by undue haste in grab
hing at available cash. With revived ac-
1ivity I'm business, investors will become
more courageous. they figure, and bonds
that might find slow sale now will go into
the strong boxes with increasing volume
1t 10 observed. however. that these same
investors are already active. Transac-
tons in bond thus far this year are about
double what they were for the correspond
ing period of 1908. and prices have re-
Gently shown an advancing trend r. is
taken for granted by the manufacturers
az bonds and the statesmen that require
ments In that direction will be pretty well
disposed of before urgent competition sets
in from Industrial and commercial quar-
ters
Copper Report
The report of the Copper Producers
Association. which was one OF the stats
tical outputs OF the week. came rather
surprise. u showed copper stocks
on hand 10 be about 144. 600 900 pounds,
whereas common report made the amount
anywhere from 250.OOo. 900 to 300. 900 900
pounds. For line OF production that
should have accurate statistics the COP
per market Is very poorly supplied. The
data which has been doled out to the
public has always been received with
more or less doubt. Its origin LAYS the
information open to question as to its
entire accuracy. The rule OF copper sta
tistics is that there is always something
up the sleeve-something hidden and
known only to insiders-either concealed
stocks concealed securities. 1t will
be a blessing II this Copper Producers
Associate Is able to furnish the trade
and the public figures on copper supplies
and copper production that can be de-
pended on.
The report of the profits OF the Peoples
Gas Company of Chicago Is blow to the
pretensions OF the big gas monopoly of
New York. The New York corporation
has been violently insisting that ii could
not make gas at a profit at SO cents per
thousand feet The record of the Chica go
institution is that il is able to earn about
ntexl,t -flx-e-