Evening star., 1920-03-11
Market STRONG;
CONFIDENT BUYING
BY STUART p. WEST.

SVHHCSVVhUCut
WALL STREET. y. y. March IL
There was no doubt that in quarters
apt to be in touch with the banking
attitude the feeling existed yester-
day and again this morning that the
upward movement had been too rapid.
On the strength of this. some very
good selling of stocks occurred.
But it was not until well along in
the afternoon that this selling COM
menced to show at all. Railway shares
after a further outburst of strength
al the opening were very freely sold
for a time. But in the indusirials
there was no letup.
Groups Take Turn In Rise.
One group after another was taken
In hand and bid up in the familiar
way At one time it was oils. At
another the motors. At another the
shipping and allied stocks. Vt an
other the gas shares. Along with
these numerous Individual specialties
like American Wool. Industrial Alco-
hol and American Can rose sharply.
American Tobacco aud American
Tobacco securities were confidently
bought.
The only reasons assigned Tor eX-
pecting reaction were first that the
rise had been pretty swift md that d t.
tractive profits had accumulated in
speculative hands. and second that The
credit situation had bv no means been
so far relieved that tie bars could be
let down for speculation. ndoubteG-
ly this was the position taken by many
good judges who had been optimistic
week ago when the trading rank and
file were uniformly bearish
Call Loan Rate Helps.
Still the money market itself did
not give any signs that il was about
to put a damper upon speculative ac-
tivitieS. The fact that rates should
have actually come down so that the
call loans renewal stood at per cent.
in the face of the speculative revival
on the stock exchange and at the very
time when on account of the proximity
of the huge income tax payments a
severe strain had been predicted. was
particularly impressive.
1t seemed to fit in with the view
that liquidation of commercial credits
has gone very much further than is
indicated by the recent bank state
mentS.
TobaccOs Active.
American Tobacco old stock had
shot up very rapidly toward the close
yesterday. and American Tobacco Sc
y
the movement being a response to the
annual report, which the more it was
studied the more it impressed people
with the great earning power of the
company and its wonderfully strong
financial position. Particular atten-
tion was paid to the very large treas
ury surplus. Both of these stocks
opened up sharply this morning and
continued very prominent among the
leaders of the advance. Other mem
hn ID
and Tobacco Products, went up. too.
but their rise was merely sympathetic
The main interest now is all in the
american Tobacco situation and in
the market for American Tobacco se-
curities.
Junior Vanderbilts.
The Pennsylvania having decided to
take over all the minority stock of
the Panhandle. attention will be given
in greater measure to the possibiIities
of other of the big systems doing the
same thing with their subsidiary
stocks The strong motive for getting
IN these minority issues is that there
py complete unification of earning
power viii be possible, whereas now
the only way the parent organization
can get share in the profits of these
subsidiaries is through the distribu-
ton of dividends
The earnings of some of the junior
''>FN1ssiitS- tSEtCidiiy Dig nave
attracted lot OF favorable notice and
they do make remarkable showing.
This would seem to provide a special
incentive for the New York Central
TO follow the example of the Pennsyl-
vania and take over the outstanding
minority holdings. Big Four stock
was very strong today.
New York. Chicago and st. Louis
(the Nickel Plate) used to be a Van
derbilt road. but in July. 1916. the
New York Central sold its entire hold
ings to Cleveland group On it's own
merits. however. Nickel Plate, where
IL is now selling arbund 80. is attrac-
tive. 1t has been earning about 10 per
cent on the common stock.
Motor Stocks Feature.
The motor stocks were one of the
Dig features in the trading. the lead
ers of the group being Studebaker
General Motors and Chandler. all of
which got into new high territory for
this move. The activity of Stude-
baker was based on the favorable
reports to be made by the company
this week. 1t is said that the earn
Ings will show in theSneighborhood
of $50 share. 1t was said in this
column Yesterday that earnings would
he around $50 share. but this meant
for all the common stock, both new
and old. The $50 earnings will be
on the old stock. The reason for this
rise in Chandler is also perfectly
plain.
InterborouEh Again Active.
1t is learned that for the first time
in many months the political element
which formerly played such an irp-
portant part in the local fractions are
again active. During recent weeks a
Tammany group is said to have been
buying heavily in Interborough Con-
solidated preferred Earnings are
showing a steady increase on all trac-
ton lines and the peak of operating
costs is said to have been reached and
Passed.