New-York tribune., 1918-05-11

Many Wall Street persons, includ-
ing shrewd brokers and traders, find
the present market very pulling
1t is hard to locate the motive power
that is pushing prices, and espe-
clally the price of Steel, steadily up
ward Professional traders are not
making the market, though they are
actively participating in it. The big
pools are not making it, either; at
least, not independently, though they
are active, too. And every one knows
that the sudden increase in the vol
ume of trading has not come from
so-called outside sources, for the
public, until yesterday, held aloof.
Nor is it the combined activity from
all these sources that is really max
ing the market. Back of the move
ment, in the opinion of competent
observers, are much larger interests
who, for reasons undisclosed, are
said to be engineering a speculative
boom. That opinion may not be well
founded, but it certainly appears to
be. The weakness of the theory is
that it is hard to see why such a
movement should be started at
time that seems unpropitious, espe-
cially as a great speculation would
be frowned upon in Washington un
der existing conditions. Perhaps it
is to be explained by the fact that
since the railroads have been taken
over by the government and corpo-
rate financing reduced to mini
mum the market remains as the
only profitable field of activity. 1t
is an easy market to handle because
of its remarkable technical strength.
The mysterious "they," to whom all
untraceable market operations are
credited, are handling it dexterously,
almost scientifically. 1t is a thing
TO admire, even though the motive
itself may not be admirable.
Discussion of heavy increases in
excess profits and income taxes did
not seem to have much effect on the
market, probably because they had
no definite form. Yet, notwithstand-
ing Washington reports that Con-
gress would insist on postponement
of tax legislation until December,
the Street is pretty we'll convinced
that the rates will be raised sub
stantially. This belief is founded on
the fact that. with some excep-
tions, profits of industrial corpora
tons after payment of the war
taxes were very large last year, in
some cases larger than ever before
Undoubtedly such corporations could
meet an advance in the war tax
rates and still make reasonably good
profits. 1t will be necessary to use
great discretion in framing new
legislation, however. Otherwise in
dustry might be seriously crippled
at time when it should be stimu-
lated as much as possible To ad-
vocate doubling the imposts, as one
Congressman who is noted for his
appalling ignorance of finance and
amazing lack of economic under
standing is reported to be doing, is
absurd and impossible, mathemati-
cally as we'll as from the standpoint
of sound policy.
The Steel Corporation reported
another large decrease in untitled
tonnage on it's books at the end of
the month, whereupon Steel COM
mon fell from the new top at 100 "a
to 10814 at the close 1t was only a
coincidence, however, as little atten-
ton was paid to the tonnage returns.
AS every one knows, the decrease in
orders is due to the fact that Civil
IAN orders are not being booked, ex-
cept for very limited quantities. The
industry is working at nearly 100
per cent of capacity on war steel of
various kinds, and there is every in
dication that it will have all the
business it can handle for many
months to come.
A Wall Street person who lives
gorgeously on as little as one-eighth