Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-10
WEAKNESSSPREADS
TO RAIL SHARES
Number Of the lndustriaIs
Touched the Lowest Prices
of the Year

New York, Dec. 10.--Thc rro-
n"unc"d weakness Of the railroad shares
was the disturbing development Of TO-
days stocks. In it's general charac-
teristics the market differed little from
the preceding sessions of the current
week. There was the same extreme
irregularity with fresh weakness crop
ping out in many parts of the list rs
the selling pressure increased and which
not only caused further substantial re-
cession in prices, but also in n number
OF cases carried prices to the lowest
level of the year
While the rcactionary party were
given the credit for the further slash
ing Of market values there was un
miStakablc liquidation all around the
room. Some of it again was enforced,
while elsewhere there was every rca
! son for believing that a large part Of
! the selling was due 10 the necessity on
the part of individuals and corporations
TO meet tax payments next Wednesday.
/ This reCCsitious selling. Of course, was
helped along by bearish operators Of
| the .plunging type and by a horde Of
small sellers
Undoubtedly n good portion of the
/ urgent liquidation which appeared in all
/ the railroad stocks represented efforts
! to protect speculative holdings of less
marketable value. There were likewise
unmistaknhlc signs of heavy selling by
many Of the pools formed last summer
! to boost the rails. Such operations at
/ least f"rc discerniblc among III" lower
! priced and nondividend- paving issues.
/ Will" tho entire list was conspicuously
vulnerable. 1t was evident that some
z ni tio ;,,n t,1
! taking advantage Of the weakness of the
rails to reduce outstanding commit .
ments in the industrinl>. The partial
recovery. however. in the ndustrial>
/ was blanket"d by the very unfavorahi"
tonnage statement of tho United States
Steel Corporation. The untitled orders
for November showed n pronounced
shrinkag" Of SlJ.3Tl tons. as compared
with October, which was considerably
in excess of the predicted decrease. II
was a striking illustration of the extent
Of the extent of the cancellations en-
countHrcd By the steel industry. The
tonnage for the month was 9.U21 ,lSl
! tons, the smallest mOnhly tonnage for
the year. The previous low mark was
made in January when the untitled ton
mage was given as 9.2S5, ,44l tons.
! TIL" bear crowd continued to press its
! advantage at the opening, being aIdcu
! by over night developments of n bear
! ish character. Rails were again the
center Of the initial selling at further
declines ranging from large fractions u
l Il points in the PacitiCs, granGers and
coalers. Food, chemical and oils soon
forfeited ] to points with shippinGS
motors and equipments.
Additional rovprsalS of the morning
resulted in new low records for Baldwin
| Locomotive, Corn Products and Amcri-
can Agricultural Chemical and alsc
some Of the specialties in the textile
! leather and unclassiticd divisions. An
irregulor recovery, led by Mexican Pc
troleum. Texas & Pacific Coal anC
Crucible Steel failed to hold, prices soon
falling back. IIcavlness became more
pronounced in the shipping. motor
food and railway shares Among The
latter Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific
Reading. Northern Pacific. Great
Northern preferred, Chicago X North
western preferred, -. Louis y Sar
Francisco and New Haven "used l I,
almost > points, while Chesapeake y
Ohio broke on 1 points. Mail ordel
issues displayed renewed weakness
Sears Roebuck losing 3l2 points.