The Washington times., 1912-05-12
STOCKS ARE RATHER IRREGULAR
UNDER REDUCTION OF BUSINESS
Aggressive Bear Rdng Results Breaks Early Week But I'm
Is Noted Closing When There Decided Uprising
With Hardened Prces-Chang in Toward Roosevelt
JOHN GRANT DATER.
Financial Representative Munsey Publications

Special Fir
NEW YORK, May 12-Under a some-
| what reduced volume of business. stocks
were highly irregular during Wall
Streets business week. At the outset
| the reactionary tendencies. which were
decided feature toward the close Of
the preceding interval were still in evil
dence, and prices broke with much
severity. but that this was the result
of aggressive bear raiding, and did not
iorce any extensive or serious hquida-
ton was clearly shown by the subse-
quent course of the market, for trading
quieted down on the decline and prices
| hardened, and then under the leadership
| of specialties the entire list improved,
regaining much, II not ALL of the early
| losses, and closing with a vigorous
| upswing
| In fact, stocks acted very much as
| though certain bearish operators, who
| were anxious to shift their position, had
, first pressed special issues, such as
United States Steel common as far as
| they possibly could, and having covered
their short lines on the break. were now
| ready to join In the movement for
| higher prices. One noted a decided
| change in the character of comments
Of some recently very gloomy bears.
| The reaction was healthy, they asserted,
and had cleared the atmosphere" and
| stocks showed that they wanted to go
up" Not only did some of the pessim-
lists talk In this strain, but what is
moer to the point they were found
working on the long side Of the market.
Changing Sentiment.
While sentiment continued very much
mixed, and while 1t cannot be said
that there were any very striking de-
,velopments to influence any radical
change of heart on the part OF some
conspicuous recent pessimists, II Is un-
questionably true that Wall Street as
a whole is taking a more hopeful view
of the general industrial and the gem
eral political situation. In many par
ticulars the latter may be regarded as
the most remarkable of the two. Men
who only a short time ago saw nothing
but destruction and disaster in Mr..
Roosevelts candidacy, are certainly be-
ginning to see things in a new light.
1t is not to be inferred from the
above that all Wall Street indorses
Colonel Roosevelt by any manner of
means, for much Is not the case, and
he has many bitter and unreasoning
enemies in that quarter, but II certainly
is true that the growing strength of the
Roosevelt movement for delegates has
opened many eyes which had previous
ly been closed to Mr.. Roosevelt's great
popularity. This, l think, marks one
of the most remarkable changes in SEN
timept in recent Wall Street history,
and there are many men in the financial
district who now associate the improv-
ing market with the growing belief OF
Mr.. Roosevelts ultimate success in the
convention and at the polls.
Government Crop Report.
It cannot be said that the speculat-
i've security market paid any particular
attention to the unfavorable features OF
the government crop report, which
were two in number, first the unpreced'
entity large area of abandoned winter
wheat acreage and second the small
percentage of spring planting complet'
ed, which discloses that all the great
spring-sown crops, and, PARTICULAR
corn. is unusually late in getting
started this year. Very much more lr
all proba bility will be heard Of this lat
ter feature later in the harvest year
for according to the figures only 5?'
per cent of the spring plowing and only
4S9 per cent of the spring planting wa!
i,
per cent and 90 per cent respectively o.
the plowing and sowing at this time
last year.
Wall Street apparently had its eye!
and not the huge quantity. $500
acres. that was winter killed. Although
about i per cent below the ten-yea
average, the condition of 1911 given al
when compared with sos per cent. tn,
April | condition, but the indicated
yield Of winter wheat on the remaining
acreage, is for a harvest of $40, niO0
bushels, or no less than llS,2S6,000 bush
els below the actual harvest on May l
1911, and 1t Is about 20, 10000 below th'
actual harvest of winter wheat las
year, which was 430656,000 bushels. II
fact, II there is no further deterioration
in this crop and every bushel of tn
Yield as indicated above is harvested
the preesnt winter wheat crop Will b.
the smallest, with but one exception
In thirteen years.
Harvest Uncertainties.
The response of the commodity mar
kets to the poor showing made by tn
government crop report somewhat mis-
lead the financial district, for whea
broke about 2a4 cents a bushel, but tina
this was simply the result of profit tax
ing sales by wheat bulls, was indicates
by a full recovery in the cereal and b
a 1Qrtner advance ldlcl III NhS MSSn
which raised the price of the staple I
sl.27 a bushcl, a net gain at New Hor
of about IS cents bushel within
months time. During the same inter
val -four has moved up so cents a baI
rel to $500 and corn about 6 cents
bushel to "a cents, which would II
dicate that the early harvest cond
tions are certainly entering into tn
roeckonings of the commodity markets
though they are seemingly ignored
the speculative element in stocks.
1t does not follow. of course, becaus
the winter wheat crop gives indication
of an unsatisfactory yield that othe
crops will turn out unfavora bly,, and
Is to be noted that later advices haV
been of more encouraging nature tina
anything to be found in the ofhcif
Government report. The shortage whic
seems inevitable in winter wheat ma
be made up by an increased yield OF tn
spring variety, which for two sue
cessive years has given defiSer
harvest, and ought, in the order {
events, or in the order of chance, to rt
turn satisfactory yield this year; bu
after all, Wall Street is always MOI
deeply concerned with the corn Gro
than with wheat. Corn reaches tn
markets in the form of cattle and mes