The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-02-14
CAUTION SHOWN
 IN STOCK MARKET Reaction Causes Brokers to
 Deal More Warily
SPECULATION TOO FREE
Violent Fluctuations of Recent Date Have Been Accepted as Warning and Brokers Will NOW Be
 More Conservative

New York. February 1S.-The quieter
 and more settled conditions which de-
 yeloped in last weeks stock market after
 the violent disturbance of last Monday,
 were regarded as evidences of progress
 ill completing the precautionary steps
 called for by doubtful factors in the out
 look. The character of the selling at the
 opening of the week left no room for doubt that d penalty was being paid for reckless speculative excess in the period
 of rising prices last year. Forced liquida-
 ton on large scale kept conjecture busy over it's sources and motives. It's volume and persistency recalled previous occa
 sons in which subsequent history proved
 Chat liquidation by men of wealth and supposedly ample information of tho course of financial affairs was pursued.
 Action by the banks for recall of credits employed in excessive speculative com
 mitmenls was ascribed as the direct fac
 tor in the movement.
 There was no general agreement in
 cases for this apparent miscarriage of large speculative movements. Such signs as have appeared of Hull in trade activity are interpreted both as cause and effect
 of the fall in prices of stocks. That these
 signs are premonltory symptoms of u general trade recession is
 view professed by some authorities with claims to financial leadership. Better
 authority holds the opinion that the eN-
 cess of the previous speculation itself is
 responsible for the violence of the re-
 action The heavy loan contraction by
 the banks which has accompanied the de-
 flation of stock market values proves
 how largely credit resources were de
 flected last year from supplying new
 capital requirements into speculative in-
 flation of existing stock prices
 | The apathy of the bond market anG the difficulty of floatEe new bond is- sues up to the present time prove the same thing. The ref md ng of corpora
 tion notes put out dui ing the Is al de-
 pression in 1907 and 1908 and the rais- | ing of fresh capital to extend enter prises were done at l disadvantage all | last year. The lack Gf abundant capita. resources restrict expenditures for inl- | proVement to some extent and iias it's | part in the present subsistence fl de-
 mand for materials. The stock market | liquidation which has been e~ec: ed is | CHIC to correct lnaI COnGllIon ant | provide better demand for new capi. | tai issues. The vioience of Inc later | fall in prices of stocks aroused the sus- picion that it was countenanced oy the | large capitalist groups for the parpose | of fresh accumulation of securities dis
 tributed at last years higher prizes. A formidable impression is made by
 the evidences of the momento1s oonse-
 quences looked for 10th in financial 1 quarters and amongst officials of the l government, from the supreme court decisions in the Anec ecican Tobacs ana 1 Standard oil cases The successive l visits to Washington of influential 1 financial representatives imply an at l tempt to arrive at an understanding with the government authorities over l the alternative courses to be pursued in | the event of either favorable or un- | favorable decision in these cases. Dis satisfaction with the results og thess
 visits has been inferred from the action
 of the weeks stock market rathe, tha
 from any open expression on the part os I the returning visitors. Until the de- | cision of the supreme court is formally
 made, 1t is feared that the matter will retain it's disquieting influence