The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25
TRADING IN STOCKS
 DULL FOR THE WEEK Price Changes Have Been Lim-
 tied and Irregular GOOD BANK STATEMENT Favorable Expectations Have Been Fulfilled Although the Gain In
 Cash Is Hardly. Up to l. Expectations
GOOD BANK STATEMENT

I Business was@ unusually dull in Wall street during the week. The swing of the market has not been more than two points during the past two weeks and trading has been limited to a very narrow scope The sessions of Tuesday and Wednesday were moder- f ateiy active. This to some extent re- ,ieved the dullness of the week and brought the average daily sales up to 265,0o0 shares.
 Natural to this season of the year was the better investment demand Tor securities, especially for bonds. An enormous amount of dividend and in- terest money will be released on Jan uary l. It is estimat ted as high as s225O00,o00 against s200,000,000 year mgo Ten years back January disburse- monts did not exceed s100,000,000 and the total annual payments on stocks and bonds then were about s750,00J. On the earnings of 1910 the year will be nearly $1,250,000. Of course this represents an enormous amount of new interest bearing bonds. At the same k fimo no small part of 1t is the product of capital that was earning nothing in the earlier years and which now is highly productive. A case in point is that of the Lehigh Valley, whose dividends were suspended around 1900 and which have just been placed on a 10 per cent basis.
 The bank statement for the week fulfilled the favorable expectations of yesterday, although the actual week end statement showed barely half as ge q gain in cash as had been ex- pected. The $2,900,000 addition to that account. however, more than offset S6,20O000 loan expansion and the re- sultant increase in deposhs, so that surplus reserves increased half a mil lion. The actual surplus reserve Is now slightly below that of this week in 1909 and Is also less than in 1907 or 1904 or 1908. With other recent years 1t makes favorable comparison Among other changes of the week the excess of loans over deposits Is cur down $3,100,000. That excess is now s34,S00,000; it was $3S,900,OO0 fort night ago, and $19.100,000 at this time last year. In the clearing week of 1909 the loan excess rose to $25,1O0, 0o6, but disappeared altogether two weeks later.
 The wide fluctuations of the week in the foreign exchange market direct attention to what ultimately follows in January after the endyear settle snient obligations have been adjusted. :, The gold movement between Europe and the United States In that month has been sufficiently irregular to give interest to the probable course of ex- change during the next five weeks.
 Business men in Wall street are looking to the opening of the New Year for general revival along all industrial lines. The merchants have enjoyed an unusually large Christmas trade and the removal of spring orders by the jobbers calls for the renewed ~ activity among the manufacturers Of all staple productc. The farming in terests of the country have had a prosperous season and their prosperity will in a like manner find its way back to the industrial and general bus- mess interests of the country
 The surprising flea ture of the general trade situation Is the manner in which railroad gross earnings continue to Increase For the two weeks of De- cember this gain amounts to 71a per cent. It compares with an increase in the two weeks of November IS against the same week of 1909 a little over 6 per cent and for the two weeks in Oc- tobcr as against the same weeks in 1909 of less than per cent. Decem- ber's increase may be accounted for somewhat by the earnings ' of the northwestern lines and lines centering q around Chicago, which, at this time Fl year ago. were operating on very E low basis on account of the switch mems strike. Other parts of the coun- N try, however, where these labor trou- t hles were not a factor, have been show ing good gains. One section in par F ticular that has made a fine record ffs the south. The traffic there holds THup strong and so does general busi- #ness and there is every evidence that 4 the country below the Mason and Dixon E line may next year be the one of all 4 others in the United States of largest "a KbuSineSS profits