The sun., 1909-05-16
5ossfp oF VAIL STREET..

According TO reports current yesterday
three well known operators have sold out
rifost OF theit stocks in the past week. aud
though still temperamentally buliish are
out Of the market for the time being. The
names mentioned arc OF men Who took on
large blocks OF stocks at the beginning Of
the movement and had rather increased
than curtaiied their lines up to this week.
Ons Of them had very large holdings Of Steel
common, another was heavily interested In
both steel and Reading, and the third had .
widely diversified line. The men operated
Independently Of one another. but II appear
to Nave occurred to every one Of them to
take profits at about the same time. A
ftiehd OF one of them said yesterday that
this particular operator did not close out
bece1se he had lost faith In the bull move
fneDt. He sold simply because he had Q
profit great enough 10 satiafy anv ona and
was wliiing TO leave the remaining gains
to others. Another. It was learned. re-
tained his Steel, but took profits on most Of
the others. The third simply curtailed his
line before going abroad.
Anequally circumstantial report ascribed
heavy loss to financier intereste ed In min
Ing who haa been operating in the market
quite as heavily as the others. but on the
losing side. He began fighting the market
following the declaration OF the trade war
and had kept on selling heavily until the
loss was as great a. he cared to stand. II
this report was true 1t indicated that a
part OF the large profits taken out OF the
market simply represent q shifting OF
money from the pockets OF some large
operators to others. There were reports
OF other heavy losses by bears. and the name
Of one once prominent bear trader has
lattsrly disappeared from the door Of the
house where he did the bulk OF his trading.
Ths rrca. taking ~ Inc course OF the
week was admittedly heavy. but 1t was not
a. surprising as was the markets power Of
Absorption. The realizing sales. as was the
case the week before. were made on ad-
vancing prices, Short covering con-
,trfbuted somewhat to the ease Of profit
taking. but principally the circumstance
was due. in the opinion Of most critics. to
the remarkable broadening OF public in-
terest and to a wide distribution Of stocks
al over the country. At no previous time
Of the year had the public been so keenly
interested and at no previous time was the
sustaining power Of the public buying 90
much In evidence.
In the last two weeks. or since the market
took on new life with the commodity de-
cision, there have been four days on each
Of which transactions exceeded 100000
shares. It is everywhere granted In Stock
Exchange circles that the million share
market is relatively more important than
was formerly the case. the difference COM
Ing from the fact that the laundry business
and other devices 81 manipulation have
been discouraged by the authorities to .
krestef extent since the unsavory failures
Of last year. Undoubtedly there has been
considerable manipulation by pools since
the bdll movement began. but every oper-
atGr has reason 70 guard against discovery
by tho, authorities OF any infraction OF tho
rule AGAINST fictitious transactions. The re-
suit has been great decrease In the number
Of washed sales. SO that a greater percentage
OF the transactions now consists OF abso-
lutely bona fide sales and the million share
market implies q greater public interest.
In the case which has presented latterly
the most notorious appearances Of manipa-
lAtion the Stock Exchange authorities arc
reported to have called halt.
Yesterdays market was dull In sharp
contrast to the action Of the preceding
days. but 200, 900 shares were dealt In as
compared with $4,000 on the previous
Saturday aud more than 100000 on the
previous day. One reason ascribed !or tho
duness was that the public rarely brings
any business OF considerable amount on
Saturday. but much more important was
the Aloofness Of professional traders and
most Of the regulars. By far the greater
portion Of these we're bearish. arguing that
the market had completely discounted the
business improvement and q favorable
tariff revision and insisting that q sharp
reaction was logical. This opinion was
offered freely to every one and traders were
advised 70 sell, but the professionals were
unwilling to back the opinion and practi-
cAlly all traders thought It would be just
a. well for the people giving the advice to
take the initiative. The incident was a
striking illustration OF the dread Of short
selling that has been imbued in the trading
element by losses attending bearish opera
tions In the past two months.
The range Of the mark was rem markably
broad In view Of the small total Of transact
tions. There was trading In 1855 stocks.
It had been expected that the bank state
meft would show gain In cash on account
Of the heavy NOV vement Of money from the
interior, but The returns surpassed expecta-
tions. In the actual totals at the close OF
business Friday 1t gave the cash increase
Of Sia.isi. 800. There was an expansion OF
but o. 200 800 in loans and q resulting In
cresse OF Sl0.lio.700 In surplus reserve.
bringing the surplus up to 42i .5i9,e50. The
figures Afforded additional evidence OF the
current ease OF money. That this ease Is
expected to continue was shown by one Of
the largest loans negotiated In the course
OF the day, one Of the larger banks putting