Evening star., 1920-08-25
RAILS ARE STRONG,
|NDUSTR|ALS SOFT
BY STUART p. WEST.

NEW YORK, August 25.-The short
interest in it's abrupt retreat toward
the close of yesterdays session had
not had time to get back all the
Covering purchases continued at the
outset this morning and with the
course of the first hour or so the
speculative leaders went a half point
to a point higher.
Steel common got up we'll across 90
and Bethlehem Steel, Republic Steel
Baldwin Locomotive and American
Car and Foundry all went through
their high at last nights close.
At this level, which represented an
upturn OF 5 to 10 points within a week.
stocks began to come out more freely
and the rise was checked.
Railway shares acted differently
from the industrial.
Rails Hold Firm.
They had no short interest to de-
pend upon. In their case it was new
buying alone that counted. The rails
yesterday had moved ahead In the
early part Of the day while the In
dustrials were tagging and had stop.
ped going up when the violent whirl
the end of the day. This morning the
railway shares again moved forward
moderately and continued to holo
their own. in face Of the later irregu-
larity In other directions.
The reading of this movement was
short interest in the rails. they had
nothing to lose from the completion
of a covering demand. but the way
they continued to hold their hlgh
prices after the comparatively large
advance Of the preceding days showed
that there was a ready buying power
sufficient to absorb in a quiet way
a - a
level.
Stocks in Strong Hands.
The fact that stocks are in strong
hands. which has been mentioned here
repeatedly in the past few weeks. was
never more clearly demonstrated than
in the market yesterday and again
today.
The short covering. which started
in the late trading yesterday. was
continued again this morning. with
very little stock being offered for sale
There was. of course, some pront-
taking in the early trading. but this
was not enough to let the shorts
cover all their commitments.
It was pointed out here recently ina,
the accumulation of stocks had been
going on for some time.
The right people. who were ac-
cumulating these stocks. are not sell
ing at these prices. During the time
that the market appeared to be goine
to the bow-wowS the opinion OF big
trader was cited.
He said that some body was buying
stocks. and pointed out that it was
at just such time that the big peo-
pie were in the market with their
been thoroughly vindicated. although
it appeared at the time as il he were
standing by himself.
Five Market Points.
One large house, whose opinions
usually carry great deal Of weight
and which acts for people in high
quarters, told its customers today
that there were five big things which
were help on the side of rising prices
These points were numbered as fol-
lows:
Cd The thorough liquidation in the
cotton market, which had been chang.
ing fire for such a long time; (2) the
gradual release of frozen credit which
had been tied up by the railway con-
gestion; CD the liquidation in genera
business; ca the biggest crop in the
history of the country. with the ex-
ception of one year. and (5) the fact
that this is a presidential year.
All of these things, it was pointed
out. would tend to send large sums te
Wall street for stock market pur.
poses.
Bethlehem Motors Reccivership.
The receivership for the Bethlehem
Motors ought not to have been, so i
would seem. as much of a surprise Al
1t apparently was. The street ha(
already been told that a drastic re-
adjustment of the company's inancia
ORGANIZATION would have to occur
This is a special case and does no
reflect upon trade conditions as {
whole. The Bethlehem company ap
pears to have spent too much none,
in the development OF plants and no
saved enough for working capital.
Prices sagged off in the last houl
on the stock exchange merely as s
natural reaction after the. very sharr
rise of yesterday and this morning
Call money loaned at per cent to.
ward the close.
Some Strong Shares.
Beet Sugar. Corn Products, Atlantic
Gulf, Maine preferred. American In.
terna tional and Limited Fruit al
closed strong.