The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-27
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Big Break in Stocks on the Leo
lanaw Affair Followed. by
Complete Recovery.
WAR ISSUES THE d

n NAVi''' oN's"" VI ~ ~ 49, '-
Street stock market yesterday furnished
a striking illustration of the utter un-
likelihood that war time speculation will
be characterized by a monotonous uni
formity. The t%orpedoing Of the Ameri.
al steamship Leelanaw of the a OF
Scotland put stocks through about AZ
severe an ordeal as they have had to
stand since the sinking Of the Lusitantu,
and tried the nerves and temper Of the
speculative community in q most
thoroughgoing fashion. In tho MI the
episode constituted nothing more than Q
wild furry on the Stock Exchange. bu,
as a resu,. of 1t transactions for h day
were expanded almost " y million
shares
4, The main features of tho session were
the swift and very large break In the
late forenoon and the equally sharp re-
covery which o place quickly,
Throughout the afternoon the level "a
which the market rebounded WA main
tanned, and while irregular changes
showed. final figures for the moro in.
f~iuential issues ruled at or substantially
above Saturdays close n the moro i'm
portant price changes of the day were
material gains.
All day long the war stocks continued
TO provide the market leadership. Rail.
road shares remained sluggish, fallins
relatively little in the period Of extreme
Industrial weakness. but displaying Arm
ness on the general upturn. Copper
shares were persistently heavy. Blu thu
war stocks were still the department IL
which interest was principally concen'
trated. and in this quarter the Bethlehem
GsAAl fSa,.aa rA,ar ID. n.-n
Can Baldwin Locomotive and kindred
descriptions ave a remarkable exhibi.
ton of ability to overcome ever acute
pressure. While he upshot of the ses.
sion was TO teach a little lesson in tn,
excitement which attends public specula'
ton against the war stock insiders, SO.
called. the day seemed to yield rather
encouraging proof of the stability Of tn,
structure Of quoted values, although e
be sure the test was not SO conclusive
as II would rave been IL the circum'
stances of the Leelanaw affair haC
turned Out to be different than was tho
case.
At the outset Of trading the market
started upward despite the ~resentful
tone Of German press m on the
new Washington note. Indeed Wall Street
seemed to be more animated by the &C.
emulation Of advices over the week end
that the Administration was proceeding
In a determined way to mature plans to
increase the country's military prepared
ness. There was q good deal Of irregn-
lariy In the early price movement, but
the market as q whole did not lack
strength when about the middle Of the
second hour the destruction Of the Lee.
lanaw was reported.
Stocks began to waver. and in q few
minutes there was Il rush Of selling
which swept the market downward in a
manner that bordered on Generalization.
Breaks Of Ave to fifteen points were
scattered throughout the list and the
day was s~ignalized by the performance
OF Electric Boat. which fell more than
$50 points in the outside market. As
further details Of the sinking Of the
L~eelanaw were published in frag-
mentary form Wall Street reflected that
perhaps IL had taken undue alarm in Its
premature disposition to construe the
aftair as a grave menace In the light
Of Washington's latest declaration to
Berlin n the selling movement MAS
checked.
BY the middle Of the session a rally
Was in full swing and practically COM
plete ecovery was effected by the early
afternoon. II was demonstrated IN
doubtedly that the market by its recent
speculation has been placed I'm "A condi-
ton of vulnerability to disturbing news.
but the late 1rmness suggested that the
condition had been materially changed
for the better by the elimination OF q
weak outside speculative interest accom-
plished by the break.
The residence which the market ex-
hibited appeared also TO imply that
after all the position Of the share list
must nav been strongly held or the
decline would not have been so abruptly
stopped and would certainly not have
been followed by SO prompt and extensive
"A recovery. AS It was. an inclination APP
peared In the afternoon to derive opti-
mistic arguments from the markets
action az we'll AS from the fact that
Germany. according to all accounts. had
conducted the submarine operation in
volved In the Leelanaw affair quite
within the limits of tolerable warfare as
defined by Washington.
Rumors with more or less circum-
stantial details Of war munition con-
tracts made up the bulk Of such other
marketwise intelligence as Wall. Street
regarded. Little or no attention was
paid to h story of a scheme to COM
bine various steel making concerns into
a large combination. which would be
second In size only to the United States
Steel Corpora lion. Similar stories. al
though none OF them quite 80 prodigious,
have from time to time circulated
through the market place. The weak
ness OF the grain markets. which was
only In part ascribable to the influences
that upset the stock market. was a more
mr. laSQ QnfiGfnpfnrU Al f,a ap