The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-12-04

I
responsible for the sharp break in Sc
| turity prices, which characterized the
/ trading Of the week. on Monday the
president OF the Great Northern railway
repeated his remarks upon the pros
pective slowing down Of general bust
ness in this country. Attention was
directed TO these views in this column
a week ago. when the fact was noted
that the trading element scoffed at
| them COincident with their reappear-
ance, with some embellishments. how
4 ever. stocks declined. and the reaction
| continued for the greater part Of the
week In consequence, IN speculative
circles, aIr. Hill is again adcorde i recOg-
milton as true prophet, who utter
ances are praised OF denounced, depend
ent upon whether you are Wall Street
/ bear OF bun, and whether you are short
OF long Of the market
/ Although the trading ellen ent IS firm
In its conviction that It was Mr.. Hills
] pessimistic Utterances that unsettled
things. conservative bankers do not
fully subscribe TO these views They
recognize Mr. Hill as a close student Of
I affairs, and his opinion on any subject
/ OF COntempOraneOus interest always re-
| ceives attention: but Mr., Hin has not
always been right IN his predictions, and
very many persons think that he has
painted too dark a picture Of the future.
But entirely aside from that. they be
lieve that his remarks had little 10 DO
with the markets decline.
Market Was Technically Weak.
| If ever stock market showed tender
ness, Wall Street has displayed that
/ quality in recent weeks; in fact, ever
! since the elections. The lack Of public
interest was notorious; the character OF
J the bull manipulation was such thar
even hardened Wall Street condemned
/ It Activity for weeks converged upon
three issues, namely United States
Steel, Union Pacific, and Reading. and
there has been practically no market at
/ all. at close 10 quoted figures for the
majority OF issues listed on the ex-
| change. This was clearly shown By re-
cent violent declines in stocks having a
l limited market, like Isackawauua,
I American Snuff preferred, and New
/ York Dock preferred, and IN the wide
divergence between the bid and asked
figures OF inactive shares. which ranged
from TO 80 points apart
In fact. the seeds OF the markets I'M
doing were sOWn IN the market Itself,
and II only took some one incident that
caused little genuine selling 70 disclose
I the pitiful underlying weakness. That Mr..
HilIs pess1mistiC UtteTanceS furnished
the excuse for such selling Is unqueS-
! tOnably trJe, but TO attribute the en-
( tire reaction to the personal views on
| the Industrial future expressed By the
Northwestern seer, is as absurd as II
would be TO attribute the dust raised
by the chariot to the fly OF its wheel
I Mr.. HIPS pessimistic views made their
/ appearance at a psychological moment
{ The technical position OF the market
had been weakened by the ll-adviSed
D n Z
J ed gained Roadway through the natural
I process Of Liquidation. and the forcing
OF stOp-lOss orders and It was accel-
Grated by such matters as the Federal
suit TO disrupt the Sugar trust. the
poor railway earnings, and the aCtivi-
/ ties Of the bear party.
An Investors Opportunity.
When a IiquidatinE movement. such
as that developed during the week, gets
fairly started Il usually runs TO its In
I ish, terminating IN a sharp break and
a session OF great activity Whether
( such viii be the case on This occasion
remains to be determined, but under
/ any circumstances the market is in a
[ position which viii bear watching. II
! is, at times such as these, that investors
I and bargain hunters find their Opportu-
mites, for, on Hquidating movements,
( stocks are usually carried to a range of
:
/ by their dividends and the interest
rate on money The very best SeCuri-
] ties are depressed at times, but they
+ never remain long at such level The
| shreWd, far-sighted investors find them
90 attractive They buy them eagerly,
I Influencing the sharp rallies which al
/ ways follow violent breaks
/ About four weeks ago ventured the
/ opinion that the stock market had lost
/ much Of its attractivenesS for the spec
/ Ulator, because Of the many perplezing
/ problems in the near future and be
I cause prices had carried so far on the
/ margin left for further enhancement
/ Stocks were then on a level Of say >
/ TO points higher than at present
{ added that they might still be con-
1 sidered as an investment proposition,
I as a cash purchase to be carried for
[ q long time, but they did not appeal
Ito one for a speculative purchase, ne
/ gOtiated on borrowed money. Time has
! demOnstraFe led that they were not at
tractive for speculative operations for
/ the advance, but on the decline OF the
] week they are beginning to look at
,stractive again to a Spectator, and they
/ certainly are more attractive tl.an they
were II considered as a strict invest
meut, because good securities can be
{ bought at prices which give a better
income yield than most of them cid a
/ month a6O-
! Quiet Market Probable.
| In calling attention 70 the above
feature, I do not wish to be misunder-
stood as predicting any resumption Of
the speculative bull movement at this
time The former movement did Tot
! appear wholly well timed or well ad-
vised, and IL failed to win public sup
port Conditions in some respects are
not as favorable now as they were in
October for a demonstration Of the
kind, for the country is drawing nearer
/ to the period when certain great and
/ grave national problems, which have
I seriously disturbed the markets in the
past, come up for solution. Congress
conyenes on Tuesday, and, although
{ such Information bearing on the Presi-
dents message as has reached Wall
Street IS not disquieting, the financial
district has unpleasant memories Of the
last session, and il does not see, as
yet, a clear business or political future
But admitting that the horizons are
clOuded, one may still see some silver
Innings. Perhaps we are not to eX-
perience as large a voTume Of business
Il as, under other conditions our great
crops would assure, but with the crops
now =, rvested. there seems no reason
I why CIe should give himself over to
hopeless peSsimism of Mr. HITS type
or any other type. The country is
going 10 transact fair volume Of bust