The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-19
HEAVY SELLING IN THE STOCK MARKET Prices Advance But React and
 Close At a Loss BREAK IN HILL STOCKS Resistance Is Shown in Early Declines Which Is Followed By Weak
 ness as Selling Move
 ment Develops.
BREAK IN HILL STOCKS

New York, January 1S.--It is a rarity in stock market experience to see so vio- lent price movement as that which was in force yesterday and last week arrested so completely and suddenly as was the case for the greatest part of today.
 The culmination of a movement in one direction usually occurs on active trading quickly followed by violent reaction. The departure from precedent in today's market proved completely .mystifying to the professional trading element. Their efforts to conjecture what lay beneath the surface of the market resulted in an ex- ceedingly confused and irregular move 9nent Time and again fall in prices was arrested by the appearance of deter mined buying and bidding for stocks. On the other hand the demand repeatedly died out in course of the numerous rallies and left the market dull and neglected without apparent power of initiative. The seeming lack of aggressiyeness in follow ing up the buying on rallies lulled the uncovered bears into sense of security and they showed no signs of anxiety to cover their short contracts until late In |, fhe day. The unyielding resistance devel- pped to the fall in prices by that time began to get on the nerves of the bears and their covering operations caused an upward reaction that put a moro natural complexion on the market. Prices dropped back abruptly to the lowest of the day when the Hill stocks broke in the last hour.
 Foreign selling of stock was an import ant influence in the early unsettlement, large selling orders for London accounts being expected in all of the leading in- ternational stocks. This was the. express sion of financial London's opinion of the course of the English elections. The fall in British consols today and yesterday has covered nearly a full point. Tn or dinary circumstances such fears of social istic government policies as are professed by the London financial world, coupled with the considerable decline in prices of American securities which has occurred would be expected to divert British capi- tai into American Investments The un- loading of foreign speculative holdings proves more influential at the moment than any such investment takings. Thif contributed materially to the morning dip in prices which put some of the market leaders to prices lower than the lowest of yesterday. The selling of United States Steel was particularly large and persist ent In the Northwestern Granger group there was some evidence of support until the Hill stocks slumped late In the day. There was revival of rumors of the pos sibility of dividend reductions in the group which have been prevalent for sev- eralndays.zE The large capital expansion ofSlato years by the railroads of that ter ritory and some falling off in earnings in the last month or two for some Of them, made the ground work for these rumors The opening up of competition between some of these roads as a re- suit of the new capital outlay is given as a possible explanation of this declining tendency in earnings.
 Another spell of weakness in Rocy Isl- and which accompanied the election of Rcok Island representatives to the Le- high Valley board was read as a disap- pointment that the new order or things in that direction did not go father.
 The power of resistance was sensibly weakened toward the end of the day and prices ended at the lowest In sympathy with the break in the Hills.
 Money continued to wor keasier and dis count rates abroad declined as well. The Imperial bank of Germany made strong weekly return but expectation that it's first discount rate would be lowered was disappointed.
 Bonds were easy; total sales, par value, $2S45,O00.
 United States bonds were unchanged on