The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-31
SENSATIONAL RISE IN STOCK MARKET Standard Oil Crowd Seems
 To Be Behind It IS ALMOST UNCANNY Sale of Bonds By Steel Corporation Has Caused No End of Talk,
 Most of It Unfa-
 vorable
IS ALMOST UNCANNY
By ". c. NICHOLAS

was time to call a halt and indulge in
 one of those natural reactions" The
 volume of transactions increased day
 by day until the 100000 share limit
 was reached and passed. Ordinarily, a
 market development Of this kind would
 have been accompanied by sensational
 changes In the bank statements and in
 the movement of currency and credits. On this occasion, however, nothing of
 the sort took place.
 There was hardly ripple in the
 money movements and nothing unusual
 transpired through either the stock ex- change or the bank clearing house to
 give the sleuths and scouts clew as to
 what might be going on behind the
 scenes and as to who was responsible
 for the tremendous uplift in prices.
 Clearly 1t was not a bull movement
 run by the public or by any large num-
 Der of speculators. The conclusion has
 been reached that the heavy buying
 wal for some giant operator backed by
 limitless resources of It's own, or by
 some combination of men of extraordi-
 nary financial strength. Having ar-
 rived at that conclusion, 1t has been
 an easy matter to arrfve at the theory
 that Standard oil millions are behind
 and under the campaign.
 In many respects the five weeks of
 continuously rising markets without
 any backset of moment bears striking
 resem blance to the colossal market
 movements engineered by II. H. Rogers,
 William Rockefeller, James Stillman,
 and others of that heroic group of null
 ti-mil llionaires, who made the stock ex-
 change their playground, and so stim-
 ulated the gambling spirit that sales of
 shares ran up to 100000 to S,000,000 a day for weeks at a stretch. There has been nothing of the kind in the
 stock market for several years. The tremendous operations of the late MT. Hartman paralleled them in some re-
 spects but 1t Is recalled that his most sensational operations enjoyed the help of the same Standard oil magnates, and were really part of their play.
 It is known that the Standard oil multi millionaires. who are now active- fly in the game, have undergone radi- cal change of heart since 1t was re- vealed to them that supreme court ac-
 tion dissolving the trust added hum dreds of millions of dollars to the value of their securities instead of subtract ing that amount. They were some time getting over their surprise, but ap- parently have not been slow to act Closely identified with the Standard oil coterie and really an arm and adjunct of the Standard Oil party are tho beef and leath magnates of Chicago and New York. They, too, are understood to be bullish and convinced that the coun- try has emerged from It's period of de- pression and is on the upturn. There Is something majestic and impressive in
 the grand stock market campaigns en-
 gineers by the Standard oil party. When the selling mood is on them. as 1t was in 1907, it would seem as if there vas no limit to the amount of stuff they could and did hand out. It ap- peared to make no difference whether prices were high or low, whether the market was hard or soft; tho goods avalanched the market incessantly It
 Is the same when they buy. There Is Apparently no thought or the price paid. There is seemingly entire indifference
 to the minor fluctuations or to the
 wishes of the rank and file of specula- tors Traders who are ordinarily big
 enough to control prices within re-
 stricted limits find themselves stripped of influence Their trades in lines Of 5O,O0O to 100000 shares count as noth- ing. The markets of the last few weeks |have been something on that order.
 The result has been that the wisest floor traders and plungers are non plussed and admit that their judgment and opinion weighs for little. They are as much at sea as the little fellow who is afraid to go home at night long or short 100 shares.
 There has been plenty of news thls week to keep people in and about Wall street stirred up. Not the least of cur rent happenings is the announcement by the Steel trust of the sale of bonds to the amount of s3050Q 000 It was total surprise to the Street and under ordinary circumstances would have caused a heavy break in prices and pos sibly demoralization. It has made lots of talk. much of 1t very i'll natured, but the general serenity of the situation does not appear to have been violently shocked, although the confidence of many has been seriously shaken. The charge Is not openly made that the big corporation borrowed the money to pay dividends with, but i'll natured critics are not slow to call attention to the fact that if it had not aistributed s25,- 100000 last year in dividends 70 the common stock, it would not now have to borrow s30.000,000 to replenish the treasury Specifically, the trust did not
 borrow the money to pay ever the com
 mon stockholders. It just poured ESQ., 500,000 into one side of tho reservoir that had been drawn upon from the oth- CT side to the extent of s25,000, ,000 year, to satisfy the owners of the junior securities. The transaction leaves a bad taste in the mouth and explanations. however plausible they may be, do not satisfy. Hard headed cynics vigorously contend that if the corporation is real fly earning legitimately dividends on the common stock, it would not have to be borrowing money to keep the ma
 chinery going.
 The more recent Roosevelt outbreaks have set the street to wondering seri-
 ously what the outcor,s Is going to be, and what would really happen if he should bolt the action of tho Chicago convention and head third ticket. Opinion on that point Is widely at varl- ance. On ono hand 1t is believed that If he should carry his rage to the point the convention 1t would end lin Mir Tafts downfai and the elec- ton of q democratic President. Others profess to believe that Mr, Roosevelt'H Independent candidacy will arouse in- vincible sentiment for Mir. Tafts re- election. The market effect of the new
 development in the political field has not been sensational On the contrary,
 opinion as to the possible good or evil
 results is so evenly divided that one has
 apparently offset the other as market
 factors, It is realized, however, that
 the situation is full of dynamite, and
 explosions may occur any time,
 Not even the near approach of crises
 In the coal miners and locomotive en-
 gineers' difficulties make deep market
 impression, so far as can be seen, That
 the coal miners will take vacation
 r. 1.,t 4