The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-04-13

 serve vaults and has corresponding ly strengthened the system in cash percentage. Some separations to South America which are looked for in the near future will reduce this net gain slightly, but the reduction is not likely to be very great Coincldent with the improvement in gold hold ings there has gone a reduction in the call rate, which, as was predicted some time ago, carried it down to $ per cent and kept it throughout the week fairly steadily fixed at that figure. Supplies of money have been abundant, notwithstanding time funds have shown no particular improve ment and are still scanty. The in huence of the Phelan bill giving the Federal Reserve Board larger powers over rediscount sales is still an uncer-
 tain factor.
 Notwithstanding this condition, the money outlook has been very much
 more satisfactory from the invest
 ment standpoint The fact that strong financial interests have decided to
 place an issue of $50,00O,0O0 of Pennsylvania Railroad bonds, and
 that other smaller issues have been successfully distributed, shows what conservative judges think of the
 market outlook-< All such offerings are now bearing what would have been considered some time ago ab- normally high rates, but they are not
 high when compared with the pos 1 sibIe earnings of capital in other d1- | rectionS.
 ] Iurproyement in Exchange. The rapid improvement in sterling
 exchange, which carried 1t early in the week to a high point of about l %A n very much below $4, has been a re- 1 markable evidence of the power of | British currency to recover. The i'm portations of gold have strengthened
 confidence that Anglo-French ma
 turtles will be promptly met, and have shown Great Britain's definite | intention to part with gold when ] necessary, even at great national sac I rihce in order to provide for her maturities In these circumstances it
 is not strange that there has been a
 rise in British securities as well as in all others based on or stated in sterling.
 Other branches of the exchange market have not participated ac- lively as had been hoped in this
 movement, both lire and francs, for
 example, showing at times great weakness and losing ground in a
 marked way despite temporary ad-
 vances which they were unable tc
 maintain
 The failure to make any progress with so-caIled Edge bill corporations has been disappointing, and on the , whole the financing in sight does O. } seem at all adequate to the require , | ments of foreign trade, even on z
 very moderate basis. Further figure! , showing the retails of our foreign } commerce do not suggest great i'm provement in the position of an1 country except Great Britain, al B though indications of a better stat t of affairs to come can be observed il the case of nearly all save the Cenua S Empires and, of course, Russia Market Review.
 The tone of the market during tn
 past week has been for the mos
 part strong and has indicated re
 newal of investment buying by tn e public Unfortunate conditions af V fecting dealings in some of the moto = stocks are to be regretted because o f their bad effect upon legitimate spec r ulation generally, but they have bee 0 the exception and not the rule. Mos - of the industrials have shown f strong tone as a result or encouragIn = reports of conditions throughout tn
 
 t ! tory increase in quotations for tn @ equipment shares.
 e The railroads have been least ac = tive, yet even they have shown goo a ability to hold their own
 - The stock market, clearly, is get l. ting into shape for another uptur1 $ The violent recovery in foreign ez $ change rates is an indication of i'm n proved conditions abroad and wi $ help materially in stimulating our ez y port trade, the prospects for whic J. looked anything but favorable onl 1T a few weeks back.
 g The copper situation is also stead ;. fly improving, as evidenced by tn n unwiIlingness of producers to mak ), sales far ahead. A great deal of en n commencement is likewise found in rail J. road earnings, which are beginnin e to show large increases over, las 0 year. To be sure, these are not, a y already observed, reflected in crren e quotations for railroad shares, bt