New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-03-23
Stock Rise Goes
Further i'm Wild
Market Session
General Motors Supplies Big
Sensation When Exchange
Ruling Breaks S'Corner";
Money Rates Up at Close

What professional Wall Street de-
scribes as bull market of specialties
rushed ahead with undiminished mo-
mentum for the greater part of the
Stock Exchange session yesterday. The
same confident buying Of motors,
equipments. steels, some Of the oils
and other industrials as characterized
the Broadening markets Of last week
was in evidence at the opening. After
ward, when General Motors INDUCED
in some of the widest speculative
acrobatics the financial community has
witnessed in many day. the market
became irregular. In the afternoon
just before the close increased tension
in the money market, signalized by a
run-up in the call loan rate to per
cent. caused heavy profit taking, .result-
ing in general recessions from the
highs. But even then the market did
not look or act weak.
In its main aspects the market ap-
peared to be moving in response to the
same sort Of buying that has been
pushing prices steadily ahead for about
three weeks. Stocks have got the
habit of going up so easily and SO
rapidly as to bring surprise to even
the most hopeful Of the stock market
following. This new phase of the mar
ket has brought about the organiza-
ton of innumerable pools formed
ostensibly for the purpose Of distribut-
ing stocks at higher levels. The same
sort of thing went on in the markets
of last year. Then the markets doomed
SO long that in some stocks one pool
would no sooner be wound up than
new one would be organized.
From canvass of sentiment about
the marketplace one gets the impress
sion in most quarters Of an opinion
that the rise will carry further. Such
belief, however, is qualified by ex-
pectations of wide fluctuations both
ways. Yesterday a certain element
among the traders maintained that the
forward swing in prices had gone about
far enough to warrant a setback. On
this theory considerable amount of
and there was also profit taking. Con-
sidering the volume of such offerings
the market gave a good account of
itself. The sudden advance in money
rates late in the day sort of worried
the market following, which immedi
ately had visions Of another squeeze
such as precipitated the big break
earlier in the year. Call loan re-
newals were made at per cent, but
the afternoon jump put the rate to 8
per cent. The Saturday statement of
the Clearing House banks showed that
the member institutions were not in
actually showing that reserves had
fallen short of legal requirements.
For time around the opening yes
terday what amounted in sense to a
corner" existed in General Motors
common stock, which leaped 20 points
right at the start, and then kept on
going until it had touched 400, up 20
points from the close of last weet.
Then just as sensational a movemeei~-
occurred in the other direction when
the stock dropped like shot to 1853.
The spectacular ascent in the stock
pressed hard upon the short interest,
Exchange authorities. who put through
ruling making the new General
Motors temporary certificates q good
delivery for the old on basis of ten
of the new for one Of the old. This
increased the available supply of the
stock, breaking the Corner"
Among the stocks establishing new
high records for the movement in adj
dition to General Motors we're Steel
common, Stutz, Pierce Arrow, Baldwin
Locomotive, Republic Steel, Texas Com
pany and Chicago Pneumatic Tool. In
ternational Mercantile Marines were
quiet in the face of meeting of the
directors to-day, which may result in
action being taken to clear up the back
dividends on the preferred stock. With
regard to the money market the rise
in the call rate late yesterday was
probably due in a measure to prepara-
lions by the banks for government
Withdrawals to-day, estimated at $780,
100000.