New-York tribune., 1910-01-25
FINANCIAL MARKET
STEEL SHARES SLUMP.
Stocks. Cotton and Grain Con-
time to More To1card
LOwer LeUels.

In the first two hours Of business III
yesterdays stock market sharp declines
,,ere renorted throughout the list Of &C
tive issues. and in the course of the
movement many prominent shareS
showed losses eoualling more than half
of The advance recorded from the low
level of last Wednesday to the hish
r,oir1t in Saturdays operations. Covering
OF shorts brought about some improve
mont in the afternoon but at the close
the larger number of securities present
ed substantial net declines. Selhng OIL
stock bought on the recent stump dh
absence of aggressive support ana trdo-
ers' pressure were effective FACTORS IN
wea kening prices and dlscouraglnS COM
mission house interests who malntdlneo
a nosition on the long side in last weeks
,,reak hut as far as could be learned
there was little If any investment liqui-
dation. while considerable buying was
dcne for the account of people who We're
cutie satisfied to take sound dividend
paving securities upon which the yielo
was greater than the price of time money
With time funds at to AZ per cent ana
stocks in many cases returning more
than these figures, there is good reason
for the movement of investment capital
into the shares which spectators are
selling in the neighborhood of bargain
figures.
AT the close losses of from l to 2B
points were reported among the active
shares. with the chief weakness in Read
ing, the Hartman issues and United
States Steel common, the last named
ending within 35s Of the low price Of the'
wear. While there was no official in
formation regarding the probable action
of the directors of the United States
Steel Corporation on the dividend at their
meeting to-day, majority opinion in the
Street favored the theory that an extra
dividend OF q Of 1 per cent would be
declared. making 4 per cent for 1909.
There also were a few believers in the
idea of a straight quarterly rate of IA
per cent. The course of the stock, how
ever did not encourage the latter expec-
tation Amalgamated Copper closed un-
changed from Saturday and presented
the only instance of relative strength in
the general market. Consolidated Gas
made poor showing. in spite of the ia
vorable figures Of earnings disclosed in
the company's annual report. Total in
come increased 81 ,265,47T, and after
dividends there was a surplus of 50, 743,-
31S, compared with S795.314 in the pre-
ceding year. And this with gas at so
cents.
Bank reserves at this centre practically
are at the same level as reported at this
time year ago, but call money is ma
teriaIIy higher than quoted in this week
in 1909. with the outlook favoring the
continuance of the prevailing range for
an indefinite period. A better demand
for time money is looked for at no re-
mote day, and bankers throughout the
country appear to be confident that If
nothing occurs to disturb business con-
ditions the year will be one of the best
on record in the commercial paper mar
ket. Wall Street at the moment believes
that the attitude of the administration
at Washington will tend to upset the
country's industries by frightening capt.
tai; it is uneasy over the organization
of leagues TO curtail the consumption Of
meat, o4 suinS tHdt SuCn movement
will have an unfortunate effect upon the
business situation. and it is apprellensive
over the labor outlook. because it be-
lieyes that the railroads will be COM
PEELED to advance wages and will not be
permitted to increase freight rates in
proportion. The blues" in Wall Street are
OF the indigo variety. When the current
wave of speculative liquidation has run
its course and prices begin to advance
little will be heard of the dangers" con-
fronting the nation. Wheat and cotton
declined with stocks yesterday. the .o.-
ton market being extremely weak in the
face of buliish ginning report. Ex-
trayagant speculation in the markets of
1903 is now having its SEQUEL