New-York tribune., 1920-03-11
Favorable News
Causes a Sharp
Rise i'm Stocks
Whole List Advances i'm Re-
sponse to Cheerful Sem
timent Engendered by
Outlook for Business

The gloom which has pervaded Wall
Street for several months has been
swept away by news Of highly favor
able character. Scarcely tinge of
pessimism was discernible among
brokers and traders in the large COM
mission houses yesterday. Professional
operators bought stocks freely, not only
to cover outstanding short contracts,
but for long account as we'll. More
over, for the first time since January
public participation in the market ap
peared in considerable volume. The
outside buying was confined chiefly to
the rails, and perhaps mainly to the
lower priced ones, but the fact that
any interest at all was displayed by
che professional element was
full than they had been for long time.
The market was strong from the very
beginning. The lowest prices of the
day were recorded at the opening in
| roughly two-thirds Of the active stocks.
No sooner had trading started than it
became apparent that the demand was
more insistent than the offerings, and
this continued, with minor reactions,
right up to the close of trading. The
market was by no means sensational
one-in fact, it was much less spec
tacular than either of the two i'm
mediately preceding sessions. Never
theless, the gains were more numerous
and on the average more extensive. On
the whole it was the broadest trading
market, on the constructive side, since
early in the year.
Perhaps the most notable feature Of
the days trading was the great strength
and activity Of Reading. Not more
than a month or six weeks ago Read
ing, along with other rails, was so
reelected that fractional movement
on turnover Of few hundred shares
was the rule. Yesterday this stock was
the second in volume Of turnover. the
tctal transactions in it being exceeded
Steel common, while only one or two
other active issues gained as much.
Reading, at the top price of the day,
was more than 20 points above it's
recent low. At the close it was up 6B
points on the day.
The buying of Reading has beer.
stimulated by the enactment OF
the new railroad law, the decision re-
garding property valuations and the
stock dividend tax decision Although
it has been waiting for many years for
the Reading to distribute the hidden
assets" which it is popularity supposed
dsappointments during ynat time, Wall
Street still believes that the distribu-
tion will come eventually. Recently
there have been rumors Of an early
distribution.
Many other railroad shares were
strong and active and new high prices
on the current movement were the rule.
This applied also to most of the
speculative industrials. The equipment
stocks were strong in sympathy with
the rails, and they we're also helped by
the statement of the president of the
New York Air Brake Company to the
effect that there had been a consider
able increase in the demand for the
products of his company during the
last fortnight. The steels were assisted
in the untitled tonnage of the United
States Steel Corporation, by the state
ment Of "Thc Iron Age" that produc-
tion now is running at the highest
rate in more than year, with prospects
of further gains in productivity in the
immediAte future, and by the good re
port Of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and
Iron Company.
The great advances in sterling ex-
change and the rates on other European
centers also were stimulating. This
improvement was attributed largely to
+ the probability of large shipments OF
gold to this country. The latter was
also regarded as Frightening the pros
impending, and credit being released
by the more rapid movement of freight
as the weather clears up, Wall Street
is hoping for improvement in the money
market after the tax payments have
| been COMPLETED next MOnday