The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-08
LARGE BUYING ON
WAITING ORDERS"
By Rich Men in Wall Street the
Past Two Weeks
THE MONEY SITUATION
In European Centers Is said TO BE
Partly Responsible for Quiet
Bull Move ment in Stocks
and Bonds
BY w. G. NICHOLAS

New York. May -(SpeeialA-On the
dips in the stock market for the last two
weeks there has been large buying by
rich men on waiting orders This Is
a common practice when the important
! interest want to accumulate stocks WIN
out making any fuss about 1t or adVer-
Using the fact. 1t is sure enough aeeu-
mutation when that kind of buying Is
INDUCED in, and is usually correctly In
tel preted as meaning that the market is
getting ready for a substantial upturn-
The change occurred on Wednesday aft
e. several successive days of 1everish
trading.
The rading was conducted on large
scale and in the most ostentatious man
ner, and incidentally every conceivable
piece of bearish news that could be dug
up was massed and made to do service
for the depression of prices The whole
street was plunged in a. midnight of
gloom. 1t was made to appear that ey-
cry bull on earth had been driven from
his position and that the bears were in
full possession Indeed, such seemed to
have been literally the case, for it was
almost impossible to find bull south
o. the city hall.
The transformation in sentiment came
with startling abruptness and was due
primarily to the discovery that the Eu-
ropean money markets had relaxed al
most as by magic. The general Wall
street public received its news through
t,o in, for, Of
ports from Paris that the st. Paul rail-
road had ioated a large bond issue in
that city, and that negotiations were on
in London for extensive and varied flo
tations, embracing the bonds of several
American railroads and the sale of $780,
000O 900 block of New York bonds.
From Holland and Germany came re-
ports also of a change in front toward
An erican securities and the beginning
both stocks and bonds. Coincidentally
foreign exchange broke rapidly, and from
London there came the tip that the
Bank of England might reduce its dis
count rate. If not this week. then next,
o. the week following All of this told
in plain language that an end had come
= our EXPORTS of gold and that corpora
ton financing would be made easier for
the time being.
One secret of the troubles that have
beset the money markets lately has been
the disturbance in Great Britain Incl
dent to the passing of the budget. The
rich classes of Great Britain have been
very greatly discouraged over the quiet
revolution which has been going on
there and which was very generally con-
strued as presaging a regime of heavier
taxation on vast properties hitherto
| either exempt from taxation or made
| quately assessed.
| Anything which disturbs long-existing
! conditions is viewed with unspeakabe
alarm by the conservative classes of the
| tight little isle. On this occasion mon
| eyed people gave silent expression to
their fears by quietly converting securi-
ties of every form into money and get
ting it in shape where it might be of
emergency use. AS matter of fact, a
| still panic" was on in Great Britain
for weeks. and it affected the money
markets of the whole civilized world.
The extent of it's disturbance is only
just beginning to be realized.
Well, the budget was passed and moth
| ing happened. Rich people who had
put their heads under the blanket SO
| they wouldn't near the storms or the
earthquakes began looking about them
and in a shame-faced fashion they have
been coming out of retirement ever
since. The most notable incident has
| been the speed with which they have
recovered their nerve, and as evidence
of the recovery is complete they are
once more putting their funds In circu-
lation.
The English capitalists like to have
| their money earning something. Ameri-
can corporations are right on the ground
anil are earnest and eager candidates
for the available capital They are there
with demands to be given a place at the
pic counter. and there is little doubl
that they will secure their share. They
generally succeed in expeditions Of thai
kind.
The reflection of this new order Of
things is being seen on the New Yorl
stock exchange and in the more friendl,
spirit shown by the bankers everywhere
Indeed the local situation has improved
almost miraculously. 1t would not b'
surprising If it did not act as sigma
for a general grand resumption Of ac
tivty in every Industrial and commercial
quarter. 1t is almost as though
heavy, weight had been taken off tn
neck of business.
1t is quite certain that the marke