The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-20
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Stagnant Day in the Stock Mar
ket-Prices Generally
Steady.
SOME STRONG SPECIALTIES
An Active Advance in the Bur-
lington Joint 4 Per
Cent. Bonds.
SOME STRONG sPECIALTIES


yesterday In the customarily active shares
to rewAfA trading enorts The range Of
United States Steel and Amaiganated
copper was iess than q half point. while
In Union Pacific and Reading II was only
n fraction more. The market - whole
was steady and one Of the dullest in .
long time. but despite the prevailing In
srtia some energetic efforts were made
on the constructive side Of the Industrial
list.
Substantial gains were scored by the
tobacco group and In the agricultural Is
sues. There was . remarkable outburst
Of active strength In the Chicago. Bur-
iinGton and Quincy Joint per cent.
bonds. which was automatically accom-
panied by the revival Of runor that the
Great Northern Northern Pacific partner
ship In Burlington was about to be dis
solved. The Indications Of foreign trading
In these bonds su6Bested the circulation
abroad OF rumor or Information respect
ing some developments affecting them.
LehfGh Valley WAS moro or less apathet!c.
following the overnight announcement OF
the new Government suit on anthracite
monopoly allegations. Lehigh Valley Coal
Sales Company broke sharply. but the
railroad stock was steady and rallied
little.
Ito response to the news Of litigation
was very much Of the same sort that n
good many Issues as well as the general
list have made to adverse developments
lately. and It has been the prevailing In
difference Of quoted values to bad news
which has provided an optimistic argu-
ment widely accepted A. to the ultimate
outlook for the future Of the market.
The absence Of involved speculative POSI-
lions 10 clearly implied by the fortitude
which the list has displayed. although
experience teaches that conclusions from
such indications may be fallacious.
The New Haven per cent. bonds were
weak. but the shares were steady on cx-
pectati6ns that to-day's conference at
Washington would end In q satisfactory
announcement that the Government and
the directors had been able to reach an
eGreetnent respecting the disinteErat!on OF
the New Haven combination on which the
Attorney General insists. II is interesting
however. to observe that New England Is
making an increasing protest against the
Attorney Generals demands for dissolu.
ton OF the New Haven properties. There
was early weakness In the Rock Island
stock and bonds. but the collateral ~
rallied quite sharply in the afternoon The
failure Of the directors OF the railroad -
declare the dividend which has been usua!
at this tine was taken to denote the
probability Of default on the collateral
| bonds. but thrre was no surprise here.
United states Express declined quite abb
ruptly and has reacted very substantially
from the extreme Of advance which pre-
| coded the oficinl declaration OF an inten-
tion to liquidste the company.
A good deal Of interest was taken In
foreign advices because Wall Street has
come to learn that British finance has
been seriously apprehcnsive Of the OUT
come Of the Ulster crisis In the Irish
home rule movement The London mar
ket rallied late In the day after early
weakness, but there was nothing to give
any definite clue to Wall Street observers
as to how events should be interpreted.
The bank Of England made the poorest
return In a long while. Its re-
serve ratio was about Y points below
tie average for the week In recent years.
, but the banks position ID unde-
niabiy strong. and there are even expscta-
| lions that It's discount rate VIII 20 be-
| low per cent during the sprhE.
A revival Of interest In the Mexican
| situation was manifested by Wall Street
because OF the reports that the Huerta
Government was likely to seek n reopen
Ing Of negotiations with Washington. but
| the day passed without any confirmation
Of the report. The United States Steel
Corporations report for 1919 had been
quite completely discounted In the advance
| summaries published many weeks ago. but
| certain features attracted notice. One
was the increase Of taxes by 33.ss5.o0o
Another was the decrease OF $4,000. o00
| In bonded Indebtedness. still another was
the propesal to sA(l about 3l3.6oo.ooo OF
new bonds 10 reimburse the treasury fol
expenditure On the new plait at Duluth
There VA no change In money. For
eign exchahte was . little unsettled ir
the early ASalings, but ruled we'll above
As66 for demand sterling. The sale Of
a Stock ExchAn9e seat was reported at 9
decline OF $4,000 from the maximum Of
recovery reached about q month ago.