The Washington herald., 1920-09-23
STOCK PRICES
DRIVEN DOWN
Henry Ford's Action Fright
ems Entire List to
Lower Levels.
ROBBERY PRICES AT END
industrial World Realizes
That All Industries Must
Follow Suit.
ROBBERY PRICES AT END

New York, Sept. 22.-Henry For
frightened the stock market to
lower levels again today because
the whole Industrial world realizes
that what he did must be done by
'au industries. The United States
Steel Corporation is selling its out
1put from SIS to $50 lower than the
leading independents. Steel prices
must be cut sharply. The copper
producers have finally decided that
.they will have to cut the price of
copper cents pound at least 70
encourage buying. Tobacco from
the fields is selling at half what
lit was a year ago. Cotton is 40
-per cent lower. Leather has return
5ed to the prewar level. Corn is
,-under 81 a bushel. Farmers that
haul their wheat to the mill are
-.EetUing $3.50 a bushel in the Md
IDLE West The retailers are the
{. only prOftecrs not awake to the
new situation, and in spots they are
beginning to realize that the day
of highway robbery prices is ende l.
= That is why the market acted
to-day as it did. Il opened heavy,
turned strong, and finally weakened
.and closed heavy and net lower.
. The only stocks that held their ad-
'vanceS had very good reasons foe
doing so.
New Bethlehem Issue.
Bethlehem Steel is really to issue
the $50 OOO. 900 Of new financing thai
was officially denied a short time
ago The fact that the corporation
thus suddenly finds itself in the
need of money shows how rapidly
fthc steel business is changing for
THE worse All the Independents
.are in distress. The United States
Steel Corporation is underselling
them so much as to demOralize
them.
1t is with something akin to
astonishment that Wall Street
learns copper prices are to be cut
sharply. Europe was supposed to
be making heavy demands on the
copper industry which vas sup
posed to be thoroughly organized
,as To be able to withstand an eco
'nomic siege.
American Tobacco.
- With American Tobacco a" and
'"B' stocks at new high records and
with Reynolds at high record
Wall Street was much interested IN
The reports from the farming re-
Ei1ns that tobacco prices were only
about a half of what they were a
year ago. The farmers are blaming
the tobacco companies for refusing
to purchase. but are far away from
the facts. The trouble is more Sc
,rious than that. The French gov
scrnmtnt always bought itS tobacco
in the United States, while England
and the continent took great guam
-tities here. Exchange is so heavily
rFr7E=T L'r-sFrD
price quoted for leaf tobacco would
'cOst France more than last years
crop cost.
II was a Jewish holiday today
and that kept thousands of traders
away from the Street. The Street
was also depressed by the fear of
a great coal strike in England. al
though bankers had cable dispatches
from London saying that they be
leved Lloyd George would prevent
any serious results from strike
II indeed he did not prevent the
strike altogether
There is high authority for say
ing that the plan for organizing
a new group OF motor companies
promises to be successful. The new
group will probably embrace the
WHY'S Overland, the WHY'S Cor
pOratI0n. DusenuerE Motor Cor
poratiOn, the Maxwell Motors and
the Chalmers
Two or three manufacturers of
motor accessories are to be included.
There is some talk that the StrOm-
berg Carbureter and Bosch Magnetic
may be in the combine II is def
niteIy decided that the new combine
will not include any very high
priced cars such as the Packard,
PierCe-ArrOw or Peerless.
Buying Of Pere Marquette and
Pittsburgh and West Virginia were
traced to two large commission
houses that usually act for impor-
tant banking interests. The same
houses have been taking great
deal of Pittsburgh coal recently.
To-day they were buying Pond Creek
coal cautiously Western Pacific
and Chicago, Great Western were
other stocks traced to the same
houses. As all Of these are low
priced issues II is entirely possible
that the buying may be for that
reason and none other But it is
much NOR. likely that all these
stocks are destined to figure in i'm
portant deals.
Nanadium steel was raided in the
mOrnin- but it came back quickly
when the traders realized that the
cheaper automobiles are made the
more Vanadium will he used
southern Railway attracted much
attention with a new high record
for the year on heavy transactions.
Statisticians claim this stock is
earning IN per cent. St Louis and
Southwestern issues also made high
prices.