The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-02-27
DULL SEASON
IN WALL STREET
Stock Market Waits for Some
thing Decisive to Happen
PRODUCTION OF GOLD
Reports Have II That Winter Wheat IL
Killed in the West-Judge Gary
VIII Build $1,000,OO0 Man.
sion in New York
BY w. G. NICHOLAS

New York, February (special.)-In
a news sense, this is about the dullest
season Of the year. with the possible ex-
| ception of the torrid days of midsummer
The stock market is waiting for some
thing decisive to happen. 1t is waiting
on the. crops, on politics, on labor agita-
! ton and on more information as to the
| general business situation. In the mean
time new topic for miscellaneous popu-
| lar. discussion has come into the fore.
ground and is consuming the time and
| gray matter of the spectators and
hangers on around the financial centers
This topic, which is seemingly entirely
fresh and unexpected to the mob, Is
old and stale to the students of finance
| and economics
| For the last 10 years writer's and speak
ers on economic subjects have been talk
ing about the increasing gold production
and its effect on prices. They seem to
| have made small impression on the gen.
eral public. which apparently regarded it
as too deep for them to give serious
thought to. All at once 1t has jumped
into prominence as to topic of general
conversation. Taken in connection with
| the agitation about the high cost of liv-
ing 1t has suddenly doomed into promi-
nence as a possible factor In the making
of prices for securities, for be it known
the stocks which people buy and sell
and gamble, In are after all a very
correct register of appraised valuations.
They represent in concrete form the
true measure of the real value of prop
critics worth $50 900, 000 900 to $4,000 000, 900,
giving direct employment to several mil
lion men and directly affecting the prices
Of all commodities whether produced
from the soil or in the manufactures. 1t
is tremendously big subject and in the
first grapple many people who have
heretofore given 1t only casual attention
| find 1t too much to handle intelligently.
Some very queer arguments and PROPOSE
lions are advanced in connection there
with. Clearly q broad campaign of edu-
cation Is yet necessary for a correct un-
Outstanding of the proposition. The chair
warmers In the brokerage offices know
as little about 1t as the veriest yokel in
the backwoods of Podunk township.
| The winter wheat has been killed I'M
usually early this year. The burden of
the bulletins which reach the Wall street
farmers In perfect flood is that there
will be no wheat raised this year west
of the Mississippi and that the yield on
this side of the father of water will only
be fraction Of normal. From all indi-
cations the population of the nation will
have to subsist next year on sawdust
and chinkapins. The effect of this dread
full impending calamity Is to be an en-
tire suspension of railroad tonnage and
a stoppage of most of the wheels in the
factories The frightful outlook is quite
alarming to the consciousness of the
bear element in the stock market, al
though does not seem to have produced
adequate impression elsewhere. The labor
strikes are fitting companion-piece for
the crop destruction. They work very
we'll In double harness, although IL things
are going to be as bad as advertised,
working men will soon be striking for
wages of any kind, instead of making
big fight for increases in pay for work
which they don't have.
The truth is the market is really wait
ing to get a better line on crops and
politics more than anything else and
In the meantime we are running into
other season of cheap money. This is
the disconcerting feature of the situation
from a bull standpoint 1t doesn't look
good to see great piles of idle money
or cheap money accumulating in the
banlSs.
At the same time 1t is a factor which
works to the advantage of speculation
for 1t puts capital within reach OF the
speculator. 1t was the vast Accommodations
of idle money that enabled Mr.. Hartman
and his associates to take up the stock
market after the 1907 panic and for
year and half conduct the most stupen-
dous bull campaign in securities the
world has ever seen. Nothing of that
kind will be possible now, but Mr.. lIar-
rinan will have his imitators. Prices are
30 to 70 per cent higher than they were
when Mr.. Hartman took the market in
hand but with stocks on per cent
basis and plenty of money to be had for
speculation at 2is per cent the tempta-
ton to resume speculative activity on the
bull side is very strong. Undoubtedly
large sums of money are now being used
to margin purchases for account of the
big interests ard this will go on until the
public take hold and helps along another
bull campaign
1t is altogether likely that the date for
the beginning of the next upward move
ment Is only a short ways ahead. 1t
NAV begin at any time. True, most OF
the ie~vyw Fights are out of town just
now, but they are never beyond the
reach Of the telegraph and telephone. In
these latter days of quick communication
Paris London, Palm Beach and Cali
fornia are only few minutes from Wall
street.
Buying OF stocks for account of i'm
portant interest has been going on steadi-