Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-30
By STUART y. WEST.

NEW YORK. October 30.-The gen
eral attitude in stock exchange cir
cleS at the close of the week is one of
uncertainty and much confusion re-
garding the drift of things. Profess
sional Wall street never can under
stand a waiting market. 1t is always
expecting some pronounced movement
one way or the other. and when prices
do not go up it looks for them to go
down
But the true index is the change in
the price list. not from day to day.
but from week to week. and if we
take the net f1uctuation for the past
fortnight it has been comparatively
small. There was a good deal of spec
ulative buying in the early part of
the month. based on the expectation
of a prediction boom.
This buying favored the railway
shares beca they were the ones that
apparently had the greatest posi-
bilities following the rate increase.
What liquidation has occurred with
in the last two weeks has represented
mainly the undoing of this recently
has been no really important selling
Stocks which were taken by invest
ors and wealthy capitalists generally
on the August break and again on
! the second dip in September have not
been redistributed. This accumula-
ton was founded on the conviction
that unfavorable as were credit and
business conditions, uncompleted as
was the process of trade reaction
stock prices had measured about the
worst. This view has not been
changed by recent developments.
Not Ready to Advance.
The present condition in Wall street
&c nrfn int
sumption that prices have had enough
Of decline to discount the business
readJuStmeat. but are not ready yet
for any sustained upward move. and
will not be ready until the end of the
downward movement in commodity
prices and in industrial earnings is
more definitely in sight. The prime
characteristic of all such markets is
inertia. If prices are bid up they do
not stay up: IL they are pressed down
| by short selling they do not stay down.
With all the bearishness that there
! has been in the speculative community
this week. operations for the decline
! have made little Roadway.
There are certain features about
| the credit situation which still are not
pleasant to look upon. They do not
threaten any serious consequences,
| The chief difficulty is that the fall in
staple prices and in prices in many
mercantile lines has been SO rapid
that farmers and business men have
been unable to liquidate to advantage.
! Shift Burden to Banks.
In many cases the onus has been
shifted upon the shoulders of the
| banks. The decline has gone to such
lengths that il the commodities upon
which loans have been made were
sold out the banks would not get out
whole. This is particularly true in
the cotton-growing regions in the
south. Hence the demand becomes
| more insistent for an extension of
credit to allow the holding back of
goods from market in the hope that
/ by thus artificially diminishing the
| supply prices will recover.
The outcome of this situation is not
altogether easy to foresee. All we do
| know is that the banking position in
general Is sound and strong. and that
the weak points, thanks to the fed
eral reserve system. can be tided over
| and helped out. But it is a fallacy to
expect that where nearly all lines of
business have been hit by the defia-
ton following the war certain sec