Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-05-04
STOCKS Stronger,
TRADING LIGHTER
Sentiment Still Cautious, But
List Makes Gains-Rails
Show Confident Buying.


pace, shorts showing some inclination to
cover their contracts. which. as demon
strated by the borrowing demand N the
loan crowd last evening. are unques-
tionably very large The result was an
urturn that continued during the first
half hour of the session. then with pre-
cautionary advice from practically all
brokerage and commission houses. ana
the most tnid shorts under cover. the
market slowed down. the second and
last hour of the morning W messing
periods of Quietness such as the market
has not known for many weeks.
Turn to the Rails.
Clearly the feature of the session
was the revival of interest in the
rails as a group. The street feels
that the time is at hand when big
freight advances are sure to be grant
cd and that the advances will put the
rails back i'll the running. and there
were more orders from investors and
some spectators. with Il consequent
rise in values that was all the more
satisfactory to this class OF investors
for the reason that they have waited
long for the turn to come.
Reading at one time was -. points
higher and held into the afternoon
O,.e-half of its advance: Southern Pa =
cIfic rose rs and held !. points ad-
vance. Union Pacific made but a frac
tional Improvement
st. Paul added :. points to its price
and Southern Railway. !. point. New
Haven gained IS: Atchison. l y. and
baltimore and Ohio. 1Ss. Most OF these
advances were held unto the noon
hour and sentiment as to the rails was
the best for many days.
Speciaitiex in IndustriaIs.
Replosle Steel was the strongest
stock on the list. opening at S4lz. as
compared with q closing at SO yester-
day. and then steadily advanced to
50. reacting to IS. 1t was a new high
record for the stock. and the advance
would seem to confirm the theory Of
big. persistent short interest that
has so far refused to cover Gossip
believes that merger plans in steel
companies will involve Replogle. al
though there are no lndica tons that
it will figure in the proposed Mid
vale Republic Be thlehe m La cka wanna
combination.
Allan A. Ryan has returned from
White Sulphur Springs ard is said to
be hopeful regarding the outlook. He
has announced that he will again be
active in the market: also that he
regards the industrial prosperity of
the country assured for long time
Equipment Stronger.
The stterment in the rails natural
" strengthened the equipment stocks
tut the Improvement was largely
sympathetic. rather than material
ar Foundry was one of the strong
specialties. moving up ? points. At
the top OF its advance American Loco
motive was Il, higher. but did not
hold the full betterment. Baldwin
Locomotive scored l 4 gain. but the
stock offerings were large and the
Improvement was all lost.
L. $. Steel Barely STEADY.
Steel common was somewhat cratic
early, when a gain of "a of a point
was scored, but the advance soon was
lost and thereafter the market for
this speciality remained barely steady
There was a report that the Depart
ment OF Justice would file a new dis
solution suit, even after the three set
backs that it has received from lower
and highest courts.
crucible Steel was erratic. advanc-
ing to 40. or 81: points. and losing
the gain plus liz additional.
Republic Steel started right for
Is gain. but lost the advance
wien the reaction in industrials set
in Vanadium Steel rose to s1s.. as
Uss. and then dropped back to 1874
Lackawanna Steel. points higher
SoA.
Action in the Motors.
General Motors opened at 2s1. yes
terday's closing: sold to 296 and of
to 2s3. while Studebaker was high
at lOSA. only to lose its gain in a
decline to 10TH. Pierce Arrow was
a little firmer.
Sugars and Oils were generally
firm, but their action was slow in
common with the general let-up in
industrial activity in the final hour
of the morning.
international Corporation Har-
vester. Beet Sugar and Industrial Al
cohol held fair betterments
Brokers' Views and Opinions.
j. S. BacEe e. Co: Developments in
the investment situation are favor
able. but the effect of these and other
constructive symptoms have not been
given much. If any. weight. as is cur
tomary when professional market Is
interested in bringing about a further
liquidation.
John Moody: We hold that the
Reading stocks will be a purchase
whenever the market is a purchase.
A. j. Johnson & Co: The better
class OF railroad shares and equip
ment stocks are a purchase on all re-
cessions for those who have plenty OF
cash.
Clark. childs & Co: The best judg-
ment for the time being is that we
rave seen the top of the market.
w. j. Woliman & Co: Although
there seems to he no incentive to buy
ing at the present time, we hold the
view that many stocks are cheap.
Morse: We take the view that the
situation is fraught with difficultie s
and strongly advise not to follow the
advance too far. If the present plans
to place an enormous burden of taxes
on securities are carried out we shall
have no free market and the reaction
upon the financial fabric of the nation
Will be most severe.
Dow. Jones d 90: In all industrial
lines production is running below
consumption.
Money . Per Cent.
The opening rate of money on call
Was per cent. Liberty 3Iy and third
4As recorded new minimums.
Closing slow, STEADY.
Into the final hour of the session
the market moved slow and with
prices generally very steady. with
General Motors and crucible Steel in
clined to weakness.
As general rule there was very
little change in the prevailing figures
from the levels current at noon while
trading at no time thereafter was
more than moderately active. Money
rates declined to per cent-enough
to stimulate strength and increase trad.
ing were the gloom less dense