Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-06
SAME KIND Of AN
IRREGULAR MARKET
Oil Shares Strong Spots, While
Softness Appeared in Food
and Fertilizers

New York, Dec. G.-Thc now week
started with the same irregular kind
of n market a. witnessed last week.
There wCrc outstanding strong as well
as weak spots The general list in the
meantime started from nowhere and got
nowhere. It was strictly n professional
affair within n CirCumSCrihcd trading
urcr. This was not because Of any par
ttCuIarly interesting or influencing news
Developments over the week end. Some
Of it was good and some Of it was
not - good, or At least could not be
expected to be productive Of any great
amount Of enthusiasm or encourage"
mrnt. In other w0rds III" traders sim
ply had the market to themselves. They
covered short lines. put out fresh ones.
covered again. doing it all just as the
notion struck them.
The surprisingly unfavorahle show.
ing made by the local Federal Reserve
Bank with the big drop In the rCScrv"
ratio was one of tho unpleasant over
Sunday Developments. Some seem to
think il would Cuusp Il stin"ning up
Of money rates These fears did not
matcriali2o as call money was freely
offered N rrr cent Preparations
However, that must b" made 70 meet the
final income tax uuHmontS on the tif-
Iff'IlI ana INT INV E'N'l illll'll' NV ~ -
oh'icntionS waS generally expected t0
make money hit tighter during the
current week. hut the only surface ct
rrrt was in the curtailmnot of deal
fngs The market. after n"rching M
and down hill all morning, settled down
into a dull rut around midday about
half way between the top ana bottom
figures Of the forenoon
There wn. another demonstration in
the Mexican oils At III" outset and dur
ing the first hour Of the trading. in
which Mexican Petroleum took tho most
prominent part. Followed closely, Of
course, 10y its hand maiden Pan Ameri-
can Petroleum. Houston Oil. however,
moved M moro than > points, but
Pacific oil lth" Southern Pacific de-
hutantcD. and Royal Dutch began to
sin from the start. The strength Of
oils was offset in m"asur" by III" pro
nounc"d weakness Of the food and
trrtli2iug shares. American Agricultural
rhcmira making porp"ndicular drop
If moro than Il points and United
States Food Products lost nearly !
points.
Toward tho end Of the first hour tho
outir" outfit became very rca"tiOnary
fhr backdown movement being ac-
"","ratcd by the forfeiture OF MoXi"nr
I prtro,cums opening bulge. At the
sam" time Southern Pacific fell la4
points to its lowest price for Ii" cur
rent movement and about II point,
under its recent high level. Crucblc
Steel also reacted sharply. In tn,
meantime the weaker spots extended III,
earlier losses. Atlantic Gulf and WcS
Indies falling 3 points and the food auC
| Feather shares dropped | to & points
n i.
under considerable pressure. with Scar,
, Ro, buck dropping 3 points and Mont.
g"mrry, Ward X 60. ll2 points. BE,
fore midday, however. all the early i'm.
prov"m"ut had been cxtinguiShod and il
many Of the active stocks prices wrr,
] carried fro mfrart.uuS to NOR" than {
/ pnimt uud"r saturdays closing level
Short ,"|cring rcarprarrd ut the lower
| jewels. bringing Irregular rrcovcrics.