New-York tribune., 1920-09-22
Recovery i'm Stock
Market Checked as
Bears Sell Again
Passing of Central Leather
Dividend and Cut i'm Car
Prices by Motor Conn
pany Induce Offerings

In CONNECTS Of opinion among trad
ers lies the very essence Of stock mar
ket activity. The fluctuations Of Sc
curity prices yesterday indicated that
the disparity of. views among observers
as to the outlook for the immediate
future is fast widening.
The pursuers of higher quotations
for the industrial list were blocked in
the late afternoon as the forces of re-
action became bolder in their opera
tlons. Despite a recovery at the close,
many stocks revealed net losses for the
day, after having tended upward in the
morning. The oils and the rails, how
ever, were able to escape the nfu-
ences which depressed other stocks.
In the contest between the bulls and
the bears the former are resting their
case on their theory Of future develop
ments in industry and in the credit
market. They argue that in the de-
cline SINCE last autumn stocks have
discounted the recession in business
and are now ready to anticipate what
Improvement the future may have in
store. The bears, who look forward
to lower prices for securities, support
their cause by reference to current de-
relopments. The adverse movements in
trade have been expected, it is true,
but. when they come, they tend to
chill enthusiasm. Moreover, there are
limits to which an upward movement
can be carried until money conditions
actually ease up.
The passing Of the common stock
dividend by the Central Leather Com
pany. which had for four years been
paying ~ per cent, with extra dis
bursements which in 1919 brought the
total up to per cent, encouraged sell
ing on the exchange. And the an
trading that Henry Ford had cut prices
on his automobiles to the pre-war level
to stabilize conditions served in a more
dramatic way to refresh traders as to
what was taking place in the Industrial
field. There was gossip, too, Of fur
ther cancellations of steel orders by
the motor companies and other indi-
cations Of changes within the steel in
dustry In Kansas City corn prices
dropped to 81 for the first time since
1917.
These indices Of the industrial drift
surprised no we'll informed student of
conditions. Their effect as adverse in
fuences on the trend of quotations
was heightened by the fact that the
technical position of the market was
somewhat impaired by a week Of ris-
ing prices. Many shorts had covered
last week on the basis of indications
Of slightly easier credit outlook and
in antici patton of a Republican national
victory in November. The altered tech
nical condition of the market yestcr-
day probably invited the putting out
Of new short lines for quick turns.
Sentiment, which is often as much a
result as a cause of what is printed
on the ticker tape, was not as uni
formly optimistic as at the close Of
last week, yet the contingent of those
who believe that security prices will
creep higher remains large. The ten
dency yesterday, however, was to dis
criminate more and to concentrate con-
structive activity on the rails and the
oils.
Indicating that the French have not
completed: their purchases of dollars
through the sale Of pounds in connec-
tion with the Anglo-French loan ma
I turity. sterling broke sharply yester-
day, closing cents to the pound lower
Cotton prices were easy, and closed at
the low for the day. Wheat futures
declined cents to the bushel as the
result of huge Canadian offerings.