The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-08-22
MARKET IS DULL
AND PROFITABLE
yySrGNrFICAST DEALING AND MAR
ROW FLUCTUATIONS IN
PRICES.
III "a
CUT c. & O. DIVIDEND
SHARES PLACED ON FOUR INSTEAD
OF FIVE PER CENT BAsIs--HAs
NO EFFECT ON
STOCK.

NEW YORK, August Ain all
respects todays stock market was "A
dull, fat and improbable affair. In
significant dealing and narrow fiuc-
tuations in prices gave no Indication
Of the change in general sentiment in
regard to the important matters that
have been on the mind Of the hnan-
rial district lately. and not the least
hint or what the future course OF quo
tauons is 10 he. So far as there was
any definite tendency 10 prices II was
downward. that Is 10 say. the market
failed to recover entirely from n slight
decline IN the early hours
Closing quotations showed an ir-
regular mixture Of small advances and
declines, with declines predominatirg
especially in the case Of the more
active stocks
Dealing Professional.
The net result was therefore. that
the market simply lost the ground
gained on Wednesday The dealings
continued almost entirely professional
There was no evidence q any par
ticular pressure to sell and none on
the buying side hat the underlying
hrmness which has been the feature
during the week seemed to he again
present The stock market appeared
70 be at n standstil waiting for some
new Impulse
sion was Of course. given to the state
Of affairs between our country and
Mexico, bur this was hardly n factor
of Importance in the market except
that 1t undoubtedly intensified the
dullness. All that Wall Street was
able to make out Of the varying
dispatches on the matter was that
things were still IN an uncertain stage.
but that negotiations between the re-
spective governments were proceeding
quietly. American Smelling II Is true
was rather particularly depressed and
Mexican issues in London reflected a
continued feeling Of anxiety in that
capitol. Moderate selling Of stocks in
this market by London was supposed
70 have helped the early recession
here, hut the London stock exchange
and the other foreign markets were
as idle and inconsequential as our
own.
Not All Tnfavorabie.
Not all the news from abroad. how
ever, vas unfavorable or Of negligible
character. The reports Of the Bank Of
England and the Bank Of France tes-
tifylng TO n continuing inflow Of gold
were a reassuring feature. The pro
portion of reserve 10 liabilities held
by the Bank Of England now stands
AT IS 90 per cent, as compared with
SIS OF per cent last week. The bank
Is now In the altogether remarkable
position Of having a gold reserve
about 81 600, GEO above this date in
any year except one IN the history of
the institution. The Bank Of France
is also shown to he making rRpid
strides toward more comfortable
condition Loans and circulation
were reduced notably during the week
and gold holdings increased over 20
coo, 000 francs
The single news development Of the
DAY which touched tia stock market
most nearly caused no stir at all
elihe- in the stock itself or in the
general list, The cut In the quar-
terlv dividend 81 the Chesapeake and
Ohio railroad placing the shares on
a four per cent annual basis instead
IF FIVE per cent as heretofore, was
universally expected as testified to by
the action Of the stock when the news
came out,
II. & O. Statement.
The July statement Of the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad made a fav-
orable showing in comparison with
n year ago, nearly half Of a sTS5, 900
gain in gross being saved in net
The wording Of the circular issued
by the treasury department outlining
the terms upon which tho $50. 900 600
Of deposits are 70 be placed in the
Southern and Western banks con-
firmed the impression that has grad
ualIy come to prevail that the de-
posts would he portioned ont with
the utmost conservatism. II proba-
bly, served 70 allav anxiety that the
government money was to be spilled
haphazard in every direction,