The sun., 1919-10-05
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Prices Advance Easily in
Quiet and Constructive
Short Session.
ACTIVE ISSUES ARE FIRM
Bank Statement Shows Ex-
pansion of Loans Continues
During Week.

In a quiet, orderly and constructive
short session in the New York Stock ok
change yesterday prices moved forward
easily and consistently on covering by
some of the shorts, induced by the indi-
cations Of Improvement In the Presidents
condition. The volume was approx
mately half a million shares, but the
active list recovered a large portion Of
the ground lost since the early part Of
the week. The technical position was
ripe for rally and the bears aided the
recovery by evening portion Of their
commitments. There was not a weak
spot in the active issues, the net gains
ranging from a fraction to more than 8
points, with the advance of 3% by South
ern Pacific, 9 by Crucible and 5H by
General Motors, the special feature The
celebration of Yom Kippur was respon-
sible for relatively light attendance in
the marts Of Wall Street. and while short
covering was feature the short inter-
est at the close of business yesterday was
said to be OF larger proportions than 1t
was week ago. In other words the
technical situation appears to favor ad-
ditional constructive operations provided
factors continue to be as favorable as
they promised to be yesterday.
The reports from Washington regard
ing President Wilson'S condition were ia
vorable, Likewise there was further i'm
provement in the steel strike situation.
On top of these factors there was good
buying of the rails on the theory that
general advance in freight rates could
not be postponed more than a week or
two. The postponement until next week
of decision as to the Senate Committees
trip to Pittsburg was construed as an
indication that the Senate would aban-
don entirely the steel strike investiga-
ton, and there was further detection in
the ranks Of the strikers accompanied by
a report that many Of the workers in the
Youngstown district would return to
work tomorrow. While Southern Pa
cific was the real market leader with a
rise Of nearly points, the upward move
was participated in by all of the active
rails. These issues have been sluggish.
not to say weak, of late and the increase
in activity in the rail department caused
considerable satisfaction in certain Wall
Street quarters, where It was predicted
that a further move in the industrials
would be impossible without q move in
the rail department The closing prices
were at or near the best Of the day and
the tone was strong.
The feature of the bank statement
was the continued expansion in loans,
the loan. discount and investment item
showing an advance Of ss4,s43,0oo and
carrying the total close to $500, 900, 900,
the largest aggregate reported in the
history Of the Clearing House. This ex-
pansion was accompanied by a rise in
deposits of nearly sS6, 100000. There
was n reduction OF 24.400.0oo in United
States deposits. Surplus reserve gained
s21.1S2,S60. making the item s3s,605.-
TAO, the rise in deposits being offset by
In in nf rlx xxyit n
the reserve bank amounting to $31, 607,-
900. In addition to the surplus reserve
as reported, the banks had in their own
vaults S93.219,o 900 cash. which is not
counted as reserve. Sterling exchange
declined IN cents to 34.2ok. but all of
the other rates were steady. Both cotton
and grain were under slight pressure