The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-04
TRADING IN STOCKS
 DOWN ID LOW POINT
Prices Sag Under a Fitful Mood
 of Selling
THE CLOSE VERY STRONG
tributcd Entirely to Industrial Conditions Which Are
 Very Mixed
BY RALPH EMERSON

New York, December 3.-(Special.)-- Trading was practically at stand still on the stock exchange for the greater part of the session today: Most of the selling of the day was spec ulative. < A feature of the day was the buying by banking interests who have been indifferent to the protracted break in prices.
 Once or twice efforts were made to break prices, notably in the last few minutes before business ended when Union Pacific was driven down below and Steel and one or two other lead CTS down to the low points of yester- day But these attacks simply proved that the real selling had been exhaust ed.
 The market showed stronger tone at the close. A much heavier loss In surplus than had been anticipated was shown in the bank returns. The item is placed at S12,6S1, 200 on the week, owing to q cash decrease of $10,500,- 900 and loan increase of S1S,270,000. The shifting back of credits to the clearing house members has evidently come from institutions outside New l market no longer attractive. The local trust companies have expanded their loans over $2,GQ0,000 since Saturday last.
 London was as quiet as the market in New York The general declines in prices on the stock exchange caused a dullness for the week. Since last Sat- urday decline of nearly points in industrials and 41a points on railroad eh ha roe has Opclfrred According a tabie of averages compiled the market fell to 112 on Jnly "A. Three weeks ago it had advanced to an average of 129ls. Today 1t was about an average of 10 points above the low average level of the year.
 The decline in stocks Is attributed entirely to industrial conditoins. It is an established fact that the railroads net earnings are poor and have been nearly all of this fiscal year- The change is just beginning to come in gross results. Probably the per cent of gross decrease between July, 1910, and July, 1911, will be greater than the per cent of net earnings for rail- roads are in position to minimize tn cir maintenance expenses and expenses of extraordinary character that went into operating account in 1909-10.
 Taking the records for four months of systems like the Pennsylvania, New York Central. Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Atchison, and Southern as representative of the transportation interests of the country, 1t will be found by an analysis Of their earnings since July that nor mally progress occurred in gross which means that high water mark in rail road revenues was sustained and was well above 1907 in numerous cases but that the percentage of net to gross, sui ferng it's first slight change in August
 
 The result is that while various roads are handling a larger volume of traffic in 1910 than they were in 1905 and 1907 the ac- tual profit from it, so monthly reports indicate, is smaller.
 While in the early part of the year the foreign trade debit was the most serious matter confronting the country, this has greatly improved and is now leaning fa- vorably toward better business in gen eral.
 Jobbers throughout the country have had heavy season and the outlook is that the retail merchants will have a good Xmas trade. This, together with the good price received by the farmers for the crops tends to make business at the close of the year balance the loss of trade ill the early part. It is therefore not to be supposed that dividends are greatly to -De jeopardized by six or eighteen months of poor earnings when the general public business Is so bright.
 Wall street is watching the ticker, which shows reduced dividends on North ern Pacific, Great Northern, New York Central. Baltimore and Ohio, and various ether shares whose current reports are unsatisfactory. With perhaps one excep- tion in this list there would be no excuse fer reductions during a reasonable period of reduced earnings. It has been care fully estimated, for instance, that the re- serves of the Northern Pacific would per init s150oo,ooo gross decrease in earnings before reduction in the per cent divi- dend would be necessary. In 1909 strong railroads all over the country drew out om store houses not previously recog- nzed a vast sum of reserve revenue. which they properly applied to the strengthening of their surplus.
 ROuda.