The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-29
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Four Active Stocks Drop Low,
but Otherwise List Shows
Resistance.
HEAVY SELLING OF BONDS

An active and weak i~iQuidatins see-
sion was the seeming stock market ~.
Spouse yesterday TO the nsws telling Of
the tremendous I'M ~sanguinary lighting
In France over the week end and 10 the
limitations Of the nature of Germany's
note respecting its programme Of SUBJ
marine warfare. Outwardiy Wall Street
paid little attention to anything else In
the budget OF marketwise information.
Actually. the governing influences in the
Stock Exchange dealings were provided
by the long familiar consideration Of the
unresponsiveness Of stocks to the profit.
able and promising expansion Of general
business and the inference accordingly
drawn that the share list Wa seiil In .
position Of such congestion Of stale spec.
ulation for the rise - to insure ap.
parent se~nsitiveness 10 adverse external
developments.
Enough superficial senaitiveness Wa
displayed to c~orroborats this conclusion
and to establish the shrewdness Of the
professional theory which has guided
i'''1N VV'ls'tiOIlS " u uVViiut tuat "
good deal OF stock was still weakly held
on margin and could " forced into
liquidation. There was plenty Of liqui-
dalton during the day. more Of Il indeed
than in any session this year save on
January 81. when the volume Of trading
WAS only u little larger. II In to be
noted. however. that the low prices made
AN interesting n somewhat significant
CON parison with the extreme decline Of
JANUARY 81.
Four stocks yesterday among the ac-
tive shares. American Can. Baldwin 10.
comotives. Mexican Petroleum and Stu
debaker. fell substantially below the pre-
vious bottom figures. Otherwise the nc
tive list averaged materially above the
previous low level and The market AZ a
whole was not quite az depressed AS a:
the end of last month. As February has
been "a month of bearish views and ar
gumcnt OF effort on the selling side and
much liquidation. The indication OF these
facts seems - he that stocks have been
passing from weak to strong hands and
that the structure Of the market must be
very much stronger than II was a month
ago. 10 say nothing Of last autumn'e
market condition.
What tool place yesterday was TO a
very Large degree compulsory cancella-
ton Of lnng commitments in a number
pf the industrial specialties which have
had anything but "A stable status for
many weeks. The opening was made
under pressure and declines proceeded
thereafter in a series Of selling waves.
with only the feeblest kind Of rallies,
largely owing TO short covering. Nor
was there anything very convincing In
| the upturn IN the lats dealings. Never
thcless the general nun OF standard is
sues "a well ~ many OF tho speralties
exhibited stubborn underlying frrnness
al declines wliSh Sy.rced excellent alb
! sorption. md throughout the day Read
iiR ehowed exceptional strength. not
, only advancing but holding "a gain.
II goes without saying that under the
EXISTING circumstances of the money
market and tho profitable progress IN
trade and industrial dcvclopment such
action IN the stock market enhances
the investment AZ ractiveness OF quoted
values. IL Is more than doubtful IL the
financial community has 'fcit any real
apprehension over the outcome ~ thc
German Offensive against the French
line. Th" conviction IL strong that Ger
many cannot do ~ this laNe day what
u could not do in September. 1914. and
Ii Is suspected thai the fury II the Ger
man attack Is a measure Of the dcs-
peratr strain. economic and Otherwise.
which the war has caused in the ccntral
European countries. opinion ~ perhaps
moro cautious about the diplomatic
problems with which Washington IL per-
4 ploNed. but even here Il is felt that the
I real hazards Of neutrality have not been
augmented, but diminished. in the past
year.
\ feature of BIC day was the heavy
selling in tine Angio-Frcnch bonds, which
carried them down to y3's, f~ractionally
under the previous low price in DccciU.