The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01
TRAD|NG IN STOCKS
 UNUSUALLY DULL
The Closing Day of the Year Is
 Quiet With Declines
CHANGES ARE SLIGHT
Bank Statement Is Negatively Favor nbIe-Close of the Year Shows That Stocks Have Not
 Prospered
BY RALPH EMERSON

BY RALPH EMERSON
 New York, December S1.-(Special)-Th years business on the stock exchange closed with an unusual dulness. The days net changes were only slight and prices as a result gave way fraction.
 Markets were of holiday character ,' and might just as well have been aban- doned for the day.
 The feature in the money market here was the sharp rise in foreign exchange The advance was & cent over yesterday, and makes it virtually impossible for our bankers to bid for the South African gold at London on Monday. Discounts were lower at Vienna and Amsterdam.
 The weeks bank statement was nega- lively favorable--that is to say, there was less of a shrinkage in surplus reserves than often occurs in connection with the heavy year-end settlements. On the ac- tuaI statement, only a trihing gain of less than a million in cash was reported, where yesterday forecasts indicated sev- eral millions
 The year 1910 was broken into two periods of six months leach in the busi- ness world. The influence of the boom at the close of the year 1909 had it's effect upon opening of business in the year 1910 and made for the first half of the year so many records that has lasted to the close of the year.
 The momentum was very great in the
 import trade of the country and gained heavily during the first half of the year In that period there was an excess of im- ports over exports in the majority of months, which created situation that not only threatened the gold supplies of the country, but suggested permanent change in the position of the United States both as a producer and consumer.
 Fortunately this situation changed in the last quarter of the year when the normal trade operations came into play and foreign spinners once again made heavy demands on us for our cottons. From September to the end of December the excess of exports over imports was s275, 5,O0O 0O0. The year ends with current of foreign trade flowing again in the right direction and with imports declin- ing. Compared with imports of $163,O00,oO0 in March, is the actual of $130, ,0OO,O0O in November, and the estimate of 0OO for December On the other hand, the ex- ports for October, November and Decem- Der of 6o0 c6O,OO0 represent for the quarter the largest total ih the history Of the
 country.
 It has been an unfortunate year for the owner of stocks and bonds Depreclatlon in securities is measured in hundreds Of millions of dollars. The value of many railroad stocks has been reduced 30 to Al her cent. The average is about 15 points lower than at the end of 1909.
 The stock sales of the year were loo,- CO0,0G0 shares. decrease of 63 per cent vv compared with 1909, while the par value of bonds was only Se31, 100000, as against s1,3f1 1,S74,700 last year, a shrinkage Of o2 Der cent During the summer bonds were nearly as weak as stocks, and many prime issues sold on an income basis that had never before been realized. Latterly there has been an improvement under the influence of easier money, and the out look for comparatively long period of low interest rates. The prospect for 1911, however, in the matter of new financing, is not bright, as the whole tendency Of corporation mergers is to contract opera tions rather than to expand"them. It IS I to advantage of the whole financial sit- uation that the 1910 issues of new stocks and bonds have tapered off materially since July, with a total of only about s470,0OO, ,OOO in the last half of the year, as against over s1,000, ,000,000 in the last six months.
 The value this year of record crops and of farm productions is said 10 be worth $9,00 100000, and Is better appre- cated now than in prospect, for there is little doubt that failure in any one of the big crops, and particularly corn, would have immediately reacted on busi- ness, which was in a very sensitive state N during the summer.
 Except for few months in the early N part of the year domestic trade has M lacked snap It has lived on what 1t pro- |E Educed the year before. There was over E expansion in iron and steel and a record pproduction of pig iron. Copper produc- ton fell off radically and the average |Xgelling price was much below other years {@of approximate output. The high price S4Df cotton has at times nearly ruined the textile trade, and in the country's failure liabilities of $175,000.000 this year-is con- aimed much wreckage from the cotton radtt Building operations in the first alf 6f the year exceeded any other sim lr 16riod, but the falling off later gives tt0{af of $S09 000,0 ,00O or per cent less
 anf.the record year of 1909. Iron ore
 xiptuents were greater than ever before.
 hot lake tonnage of S7000,00O tons was
 0per cent ahead of 1907. The total bank 9 clearings were only 1 per cent under last Ayear, which had established new high lrecord, shows that domestic trade was active and that merchants were doing h great deal of business, even if on old Orders.
 4 The calendar year 1910 will show the largest amount of gross earnings ever yredited to American railroads. The net deserves will not be satisfactory. The He.~n,t for this Is the familiar one of high EE hoperation, in materials, wages and A4y charges imposed by federal and 6#uthorities. In the spring battle VS40ught out between the railroads and Heir employees which resulted in gen. Hal advance in many classes of labor of Nom to 10 per cent. Later other ad- lntages were given, and the total ad-