The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-02
THE STOCK MARKET

New York, Sept. LA decline in prices is the natural course in mar even where there is not an urgent pressure of stocks for sale, the apathy of the demand affords no sustaining force to prices and they sag of their condition of the trading today threw some mystery over the turbulent mar kets of the last two weeks, and has made it difficult to eplain the sudden withdrawal of operators whose con- gexsted dealings in few stocks were responsible almost altogether for the million share daily totals which sue ceeded each other day after day. Con ditions bearing on values have under gone no change to correspond with the sudden cessation of the speculative activity. The feverishness of the i'm terest manifested in the health of E. H. Hartman has abated and this seems the only explanation tooffer of the change in the complexion of the mar ket. The withdrawal of orders on large scale, recently prevailing. sug- gested more than anything else that the capitalists responsible for them had concluded to let the market rest tered to the bears on Monday served to admonish them that the bull party was able still to exercise a control or the arket This IS mid,tS to of the bear party since that time. The re- newed ebullition from Boston through the medium of the advertising col umns and the telegraph had its effect in the latter part of the day and im- parted some new courage to the bear party, but they rebought hastily. The lethargic demand manifest throughout the day was calculated to invite at- tack from the bear party in the. spec ulation. The less favorable crop as- pect was dwelt upon to some extent prices. Further detailed accounts of the condition of cotton emphasized the expectation of showing of serious de- terioration in that crop in the GOV ernment estimate to be published to- morrow. The cotton stocks. both amongst the railroads and the indus trials, were amongst the few to show some strength today. But the large foreign trade makes the prospect of that crop of peculiar interest at this time, owing to the importance of the exchange situation o nthe future Of the money market. Last years decline In exports of merchandise and the very heavy imports threw the exchange situation out of normal. In order 10 tide over the situation, American bor- rowings in Europe have been very large. estimated by some authorities as high as S500,000,O00, now outstand- ing as indebtedness against this coun- subsistence of the excessive import movement and upon the placing of some forthcoming issues of railroad exports of the domestic products to afford resources for meeting this in- | debtedness as 1t natures; shortage of exportable cotton would upset one factor in these calculations.
 News of the corn crop today contin- ued unsa tisfactory also and prompted some notable revisions of estimates on the forthcoming crop in the trade. London sent reports of weak mar ket for copper at that certer. Ihe unchanged dividend on American SmeltinR seemed to cause some disap- pointment spectators.
 Time money rates went on harden ing and the banks are losing cash py withdraws from the West, but call loans were not affected.
 Bonds were irregular; total sales, par value, $2,S60,000.
 United States bonds were unchanged on call.