The sun., 1919-08-28
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Market Is Able to Withstand
Considerable Professional
Selling Pressure.
NO GENERAL DROP OCCURS
Stock Lists Are Characterized
by Heaviness Rather Than e.
by Weakness.
NO GENERAL DROP OCCURS


a considerable amount of professional
selling pressure again yesterday, presum-
ably on account of the overnight develop
ments in connection with the steel strike
s tuation, and once more gave fairly
satisfactory account of itself under the
circumstances There was in reality no
change whatever in the strike situation
in so far as the stock market was con-
cerned. but the edge Of the bullish feeling
VIII CHI resulted in the advance on Tues
day hal worn off and traders attacked
the market on the theory that II the news
about the strike did not bring n reaction
then the mere fact that many persons
had accumulated substantial profits in
the recovering movement of the last week
ought to be sufficient grounds in itself to
warrant a general setback. The fact
that no general decline took place, how
ever, aga indicated the strength Of the
markets position, and at the same time
was a source of much satisfaction In COM
mission house circles after the closing.
The only really important fact that
traders had In connect on with the steel
situation as an argument to force lower
prices was that the question had been
brought to a head by the refusal OF the
head of the Steel Corporation to meet
! intimated all along, and therefore pre-
scented no element of surprise to those
who have been following the situation
ever since the question of a nationwide
strike began to be seriously considered
as n stock market influence. As a matter
of fact, the steel trade itself was gen.
orally optimistic yesterday concerning
| the situation. While admitting that
there is a small possibility OF tieing up
strike is called, steel men are not
taking seriously the threats OF labor men
with respect to cling up the whole in
| dustry. particularly so far as the plants
| of the United States Steel Corpora ton
| are concerned. This attitude was again
| reflected yesterday in the letter which
| the chairman of the corporation sent to
the labor delegates, declin ng for the sec
ond time to enter into discussion of the
strike question.
The result OF this letter was a rather
unsettled market for the last hour or
so, but, has been the case all along
whenever Steel common got under 101
buying set in which frustrated the Efforts
of professionals to depress the stock
below par. In so far as the rest OF the
market was concerned most Issues did
very little during any part of the ses-
sion. Baldwin and a number of other
stocks which attracted a great deal
OK attention by their strength on
the preceding day went somewhat
higher during the first half of
the session. but reacted along with
the standard shares at the closing On
the other hand, however, there were a
number Of special stocks which were
rather soft. Montana Power, for in
stance, sold off sharply, following the
reduction of its dividend, but for the
most part the general list was char.
acteriZed by heavnesS rather than by
any actual weakness, The railroad
stocks. which made such a promising
start on Monday, failed to do anything
whatever. Among the specialties there
were a number of strong spots which
stood out all day. in spite OF the heavi-
ness elsewhere. American Car and
Foundry was strong in response to re-
ports that the company planned to in
crease its dividend next week, while
good buying continued in Rubber and
American Wooden.
There was no change in the money
situation. Call money remained at 6
per cent. all day. in spite OF the fact
that bankers admit that the situation
that created the deficit in reserve last
Saturday has been corrected But the
| stock market paid no attention to money
| rates, however, nor Is ii likely to so
| long as business continues on the present
quiet scale. The foreign exchange mar
Fet was generally steady throughout the
day, with sterling again manifesting
a better tone. Demand sterling got up
as high as 4.22h, which meant a re-
covery of nearly 10 cents from the loy
recorded last week, and there were SINH
'sr upturns in both francs and lire.
There was further decline, however.
In pesetas, and marks also went lower.
Otherwise however. rates remained at
about the same level as the preceding
days closing. The cotton market was
generally steady, but the grain markets
were weak.