The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-01
VARIETY OF CAUSES
 AFFECT STOCKS Among Them Massachusetts Primaries and Labor
 Situation

New York. April So.-The hesitation and action which dominated operations on the stock exchange today was generally at- tributed to a variety of causes or req sons Foremost among these were the Massachusetts primaries, the possibility of another hitch in the negotiations between the railway managers and the engineers the quarterly statement Of the United States Steel corporation and the govern ment's weekly weather report dealing with crop conditions in the more prom inent cereal producing states. The latter item confirmed recent discouraging ad- vices
 The statement of the Steel corporation' published after the close of business was surprising in it's unfavorable character Not only were earning and net earhihs much below the most pessimistic esei- mates, but in order to pay the regular quarterly dividends of 1s4 per cent on the preferred and 1A per cent on the common shares, a deficit of almost s6,Soo,Ooo was created. This was taken from the un- divided surplus remaining at the end of last years final quarter. Officials of the Steel corporation vouchsafed no comment respecting the statement. which, among many other things. reflects the many ad- verse conditions attending the steel in dustry in the past year.
 Steel shares were moderately strong during the first of the day on the eX- change and for the first time in week wfested first place in respect of activity latt al nd Valley rose and fell alternately during the session, but Baltimore and Ohio was the strongest of the standard railway shares. A number of specalties of the first and second class made smart gains at odd moments, including National Bis cult and Pacific Telephone. International Harvester far from being adversely af- fected by the filing of the governments dissolution suit, was among the strongest stocks in it's especially department Such erstwhile favorites as the Hartman and Hill issues were not prominent at any stage of the days dealings. The entire market was subjected to a series of mod crate selling movements in the afternoon after period of dulness. The market closed easy but in Reading the pressure was most pronounced Final quotations were generally under yesterdays close, with a heavy undertone.
 London was again a seller here. it's off, ferings including Steel, Amalgamated Cop per, Canadian Pacific and Union Pa cifc. Reports credited Berlin with some selling of our stocks. chiefly Steel None tary conditions locally were practically un- changed. There was an increased demand for call money but time accommodations were in light demand Local banks con- tinued to lose cash to the interior, the outflow since the beginning of the week aggregating about $4,Soo.G00
 Numerous railroad reports for March were submitted. that of the Reading sys- tenn being the most notable, with gain in net of over s525,000 by the railway, while the Reading Coal and Iron com pany reported net increase of almost as much. This brought the net returns of all corpanies in the system up to slightly more than $1 ,000.0n0. Chicago and Alton. Toledo. St. Louis and western and Chi- cago Grea- Western also made returns for March these ranging from the in- different to the very poor.
 The bond market was irregular. with A sharp break in Allis Chalmers 5s Total sales. par value, s1,SSS 900.
 United States government bonds were heavy, the 3s coupon declining SIS, the ss registered A and the Panama 3s 1s on call.