The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-06
MARKET HINGES ON
QUESTION Of RAIN
SOAKING Downtown WOULD DE
DISASTROUS To THE BEAR
OPERATORS.
CONFIDENCE EXPRESSED
WHILE IMPORTANT INTERESTS
REFUSE TO BUY, THEY ALSO
REFRAIN FROM MAKING
SALES.
CONFIDENCE EXPRESSED
tBy Thomas C. shotwe,,. ,

NEW YORK. July 5.--Only one in
nuence was considered in the stock
market to-day, and that was the hot
dry Meather- the cnrn-heit That
influence lis becoming Of cumulative
importance. for the drought and the
heat have continued so long that pos
tive damage Is being done. 1t Is
true that a good soaking rain can ruin
the bear party In night but the
short sellers OF stocks are singularly
fortunate in betting that 1t will not
rain. The situation is such that no
! human being can form any opinion
of the immediate future of the mar
ket. because it will continue to go
down IL II does not rain In the corn
belt, and 1t will take a sharp leap up
ward If 1t does rain. An abrupt ad-
vance Of cents bushel in corn and
lof cents In wheat started the de-
cline In stocks to-day.
! About the only thing that can be
said of the market is that the i'm
portant interests are openly express
ing their confidence In the situation,
anu while they are refusing to buy
stocks. they are also refraining from
making sales. They admit that they
would like to see the corn crop fur
tner along before taking a decided
stand. Fundamentals are absolutely
"SHitA liners AIS no overloaded
/ brokerage houses or pools. A big
I yield of winter wheat has been har-
vested and bumper crop of spring
wheat Is assured. The cotton fields
promise two million bales moro than
they Yielded last year. But corn and
nay are the greatest crops of the
country. and the hay crop liz far short
| OF last year. and cannot be improved.
me corn crop Is passing through the
crisis. The corn acreage Is SO much
greater than last year that consid- :
cradle damage can be suffered with
out serious loss to the country But
unless there Is rain soon the corn
fields will suffer disaster.
Suspicious of Reports.
Wall Street ~ suspicious of crop
reports this year, End to avoid de-
| cep,ion is relying entirely upon the
government weather reports. These
reports do not at the moment hold
out much hope, and the weather man
In general looks dry for the middle
West. The situation is aggravated by
the fact that year ago there was a
| crop scare in regard to spring wheat
that vas ridiculed until 1t was I'm
ally discovered that 1t was really bas-
ed on fact.
The disaster I'm spring wheat last
year tends TO make the speculative
public take the corn scare seriously
this year.
In view of the fact that there was
only one reason for the decline In
the market. the fluctuations of indt-
Vidual stocks were not matters of Inn
portance- 1t was natural that sell
| ing should be the heaviest In stocks
that have recently had the sharpest
advances Therefore free selling was
seen OF Canadian Pacific. Union Pa
cl6c. Erie. Southern Pacific and
Reading. Erie and Canadian Pacific
were both hurt by denial from Presi-
dent Shaughnessy Of any deal for
control Of Erie by the Canadian Pa
cific or for traffic alliance. Raa t.
ers ~of tists' 'cssarYn Iirsvr known All
along that the alleged Canadian Pa
ctfic-Erfe deal was pure moonshina
Erie has considerable merit, and the
stock has been rising hecause 1t is
coming out Of its unofficial receiver
ship. 1t is III about the position Read
| ing was eight years ago. Just before
the remarkable advance in Reading
began.
/ The situation In Morocco Is given
as an excuse for selling by some
quarters. but foreign houses admitted
that Morocco would be forgotten as
a market influence # rain would
come In the corn belt.