The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-02-04
Sharp Declines Occur Under
Heavy Selling by Bears.
GOOD RALLY NEAR CLOSE
Agitation Over High Cost of Living
and General Protest Against
High Prices of Necessaries
Cause Depression.

+. New York, February 3.-Aggregate-deal
ings for the day of 1,672,ooo shares ana
inroads on prices of l to points Tor
practically all the active stocks was EVIL
dence of liquidatio in the stock market
seufficiently drastic and embracing TO can
for some other explanation than tenn
porary vagaries of speculative sentiment
or merely technical conditions in the
stock market itself. The speculative sem
tinlent itself was unchanged in gloom
and was inclined to give reign to sensa-
tional forebodings of the correct case to
pnsue from the conditions which 1t saw re-
flected in the action of the days market.
Such state of the speculative mind
considered in connection with other points
I'm the situa ton is calculated to suggest
. a elimination of movement rather
than it's inception. The extent to which
IRE previous decline had already run, its
duration and the technical results in
yolved are some of the points which en-
title spectators to view the days events
as promising reversal to follow
That all is not well with the body
economic. or with finance and industry as
- to 40 points higher than were touched
on the declines today is borne in upon the
mind with conviction. That all is as
!. threatening of coming evil as was as
ssumed in the speculative gloom that PEN
etrsted the stock market atmosphere to-
Day could not be taken for granted.
Some of the opinions that are prevalent
are calculated to throw light on the situa-
tion for all that.
The opinion that overlap practically all
others and tinges the whole was that
commercial recession and industrial reac-
fion were to be read in the action of
the securities market This opinion has
been gathering adherents for several
weeks past. 1t began with evidence of a
Iull in the freight movement over the
railroads with some renewed accumula-
ton of surplus freight cars and gained
force with reports of the falling off in or
ders for iron and The decline in the
price of that basic commodity.
The extremely high price to which com
modties in general had attained the
widespread discussion of the high cost of
living and the agitation against high
prices with resultant decreases of con-
sumption demand have given force TO
the topic.
In the mood of the stock market today
the economic tendency of expanded gold
3
financial crises attracted attention. An
other factor was the weight given to
Views publicly stated by qualified legal
aestimony supposed to represent the views
of lrage organizations of capital of the
harm to follow from the proposed enforce
ment of the Sherman antitrust law. The
word panic found frequent repetition in
those various pictures of the future. and
the effect was decidedly disturbing to the
nerves of the stock market traders There
was the fear that with the arrest of the
upward course of prices of commodities
there would necessarily follow a process
of defation which would arrest the
course of prosperous activities all through
he channels of commerce.
This weeks failure of an important
frm of dealers in bonds was the text
also for unfavorabe views. The evidence
of the clogged condition of the bond mar
ket unloosened variety of conclusions.
There grew up a supposition that the
cleaning up of credits now in progress
might originate as far back as the panic
OF 1907. This superstition applied to ac-
counts carried through the stressful pc
Rod OF 1907. and not cleared up since,
but which. when being pushed for set
Element nov, gives prospects OF waning
brightness. This condition was said to
exist not only in portions of the bank
ing world but in the mercantile and gem
erel credit position.
The market had an effective rally of
to points in the final hour and the clos
Ing tone was strong and well substained
1t the recovery but the inviting profits on
the days decline offered to the bears OBJ
viously supplied much of the inducement
FOR this buying.
Bonds were weak, but with no sign of
the deinoralized tone of stocks.
Total sales, par value, 3d. 49,. COO United
/ States rs declined u per cent and the AS
declined Y per cent on call.