The sun., 1919-10-23
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Steels and Standards Feature
Broadest, Most Active
Market of Year.
REPUBLIC STEEL HITS 1870
Interest Shifts Back Into the
Equipments-Motor Do Not
Share in General Rise.
REPUBLIC STEEL HITS 12O

Still keeping transactions on the
high level of expanded activity reached
earlier in the month the stock market
made another pronounced movement
yesterday in the steels and standard
stocks which have not been definitely
associated with the recent speculation
for q rise In the specialties. These is
sues constituted the feature yesterday
of one of the broadcast and most active
sessions which the financial district
has witnessed this year and once moro
demonstrated very forcefully to the
Wall Street community the inherent
strength of the present market posi-
tion. The whole thing was again
very remarkable affair, but much the
same as has been experienced all dur
ing the past month. All of the recent
speculative favorites with the single
exception OF the motor shares shared
In the upward movement to a more
or less extent and of these the steels
probably stood out above all others
both in the matter Of transactions and
in the matter of enthusiasm which
attended the advances.
There was no. special news to ac-
count for the activity. The market
was simply carried forward again b,
| its own momentum. The only differ
| ence between yesterdays market and
those Immediately preceding in this
| respect was that there was a better
| class Of stocks represented in the up
| ward movement. This was not due to
| of the steel stocks but merely to the
| fact that by reason of the recent ad-
vance in the specialties and motor
| shares the steels and standards had
| gotten rather out of line with the
more favorite speculative stocks. There
4 IL L. l.
| terday's trading of attempts to bring
the standard stocks back into line with
the specialties, all of which bore out
| predictions Of general shifting Of
stocks back into the better class of
issues OF the type of Steel common,
Republic Steel. Baldwin Locomotive
l and others. The fact that the indus
trial conference voted down the steel
strike resolution may have had some-
! thing to do with the decision Of specu-
lntive Wall Street to take up the steels
but it would have come anyway, for
| the one >thing that had been over
looked in the recent excitement about
the motor stocks was the excellent
buying that was going on 1t the steel
| shares.
The leader of this group yesterday
| was not Steel common, as might have
been expected, but Republic Steel. Steel
common acted very well, getting up very
close to its previous high for the move
ment. but disappointed Wall Street by
not going through. The real movement
Of the day. SO far as the steel stocks
were concerned. was In Republic. Start.
ing around par at midday, this issue sud
denly shot up to 120 at the closing with
out any substantial reaction and fin
= ished the day with net gain of more
than Is points The rest of the steel
list, particularly the independents. ad.
vanced proportionately, but their gains
were nothing In comparison with Rcpub-
lies Another very encouraging develop.
ment was the shifting of interest back
into the equipment shares. Baldwin act
ed very we'll all day and. like the steels
its action was regarded as very signih-
cant after closing in commission house
circles. The only group of stocks which
disappointed Wall Street were the mo-
tors, and the advance in these recently
had been so large that they could hard
iy have been expected to do much yes
terday. The tobaccos also made a very
favorable showing yesterday. a large
short interest has been accumulated In
these stocks recently and evidence was
seen yesterday OF an attempt on the par,
OF insiders to run them In.
AS was expected, the money marke,
| remained favorable All uay. Inere were
many rumors all day about the situation
but It was stated on good authority tina,
from now on money will be much easier
This will be particularly true while the
present large loan flotations are under
way. Another very encouraging devel-
opment during the day in connection
with the money market was the failure
of the Federal Reserve Bank to increase
the discount rate, as had been expected
in many quarters. This did away with
most of the rumors that the Reserve
Bank and money committee contem-
plated action with respect TO slowing
down the activity on the Stock Ex-
change. The foreign exchange marke,
was featured by very sharp decline in
Italian lire in response to estimates on
the amount OF money needed in this
country by Italian interests in order tc
carry out purchases which are being ne
gotiated. Otherwise the exchange mar
ket was quiet with most rates fairly
isteady