Norwich bulletin., 1910-02-05
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL,
NET GAINS FOR MOST STOCKS. Absence of Heavy Liquidation Left
 Way Open to Some Recovery.

New York, Feb. 4-Speculative sen- timent remained much unsettled today as an after-effect of the violent de 1 clines which were effected in yester- l days market. There was no resump- l tion of the heavy liquidation which broke the market yesterday, and this ! left the way open to some recovery | The bear interest left uncovered after | such a spasm as has occurred this week insures & potential demand for l stocks sufficient to carry prices away | from the low level
 | There began to arise in the minds of l the bear operators today a question of | the identity of the buyers of the stocks 1 that have been so eagerly selling and | offering down to the lowest quotations | they were able to force The suspicion | that some of the powerful capitalists, who had apparently abandoned the l market to its own resources, were buy ling stocks again added to the uneasi- ness of the uncovered shorts. They were impressed, also. with the aSser- tions of commission house managers of the presence of bargain hunters and odd-lot buyers of stocks in the mar ket-
 The rapidfty and the extent of the decline which has occurred points to a continuation of an ordinary market cy- cle. Foreigners expressed this view of the situation before business was re- stunned on the New York stock ex- change by advancing the prices of Americans i'll that market. It was not
 
 bears to cover shorts should have made opening prices well above last nights closing level, which in itself represented a considerable rally from the low prices of the movement.
 The violence of these movements proved disconcertins to all but the most highly speculative element in the market, and the recovery eliminated was perceived at the lower prices. The bears rallied their forces when any signs of that sort appeared and made fresh attacks. Those attacks were most effective in the copper group and especially American Smelting. The position of the proposed merger as well as the recent statement of annual earnings of the company were assigned as reasons for it's vulnerability. The Hawley group of stocks, notably Ches- apeake and Ohio, was also picked for attack. It was these recurrent raids on prices that kept speculative senti- ment unsettled and made the buying tinlid and heSitating. Resistance to pressure on declines, in turn, gave fresh assurance to buyers. The tone of speculative sentiment was kept shift ing in that way throughout the day.
 The preliminary estimates of the weeks currency movement pointed to another notable addition to the sur plus reserve of the banks. The Hke1i- hood of a loan contraction to be shown in consequence of the heavy stock market liquidation added to this prob ability. This had its influence in checking the liquidation by the pros pect that the banks would be experi- encing difficulty before long in finding for their surplus funds
 One of the days upward movements was in progress at the closing which was strong, with net gains for most stocks.
 Bonds were irregular. Total sales. par value, $3,401,00O. United States bonds were unchanged on call