The Washington herald., 1920-11-23
STOCKS ASSUME
CHEERFUL AIR
Strength and Activity Digisye
Materially Aided BY Escsn.e-
ing Factors. ~
MONEY DROPS TO S Pen cr1lI
Imported Foreign Exehanses knju
Marked Sput-cueible =
Good Demand.
MONEY, DROPS TO S Pen cElfI

NEW YORK, Nov. 22.-Cons ltr<@
ing the variety. scope and srir1rt<
tance Of the encouraging faft1M~
disclosed today IL would have bser -
extremely weak stock msrktt (r1<
could not have displayed str<n<<&
and activity. Seldom indeed has @|r
apparently hopeless situstion Nb-<E
so suddenly draped with the garb q
.cheerfulness. -
For one thing s per cent money
made its appearance for the fret
time in 1920. and while IL was
though the quotation might have
been a trifie forced, IL is felt that
the warm welcome IL received may
encourage another visit in the near
future and also lead to a prolonged
stay. Saturdays bank statement
also came in for optimistic cons.
ment. This was particularly ths -
case with the showing Of the twelve
Federal Reserve banks which showed
a consolidated reduction OF slf4, ,O00.-
900 In discounts and acceptances. q
decrease Of s2l.OO0, 900 in note circu-
lstion and a rise in the reserve ratio
to AL Thus the country is back
to about the same position IL wa
before the crop moving demand set
y
Perhaps more potent than these
abstract items was the knowledge
that certain individual weak spots
in the speculative situation should
be cleaned up in the last day OF 50.
Their is nothing Street" breads
( more than the knowledge or fear
that big block" OF stock is hang
ing over the market. This is some
thing concrete. IL can be converted
into ten-fold selling power. for so
long as the holdings are wavering
in the balance the bears are em-
bpldened TO keep hammering away
at the hapless issue. Today's re-
ports concerned securities held by
two gentlemen who for some time
have bulked large in the public eye.
and their DISAPPEARANCE from the
stage at this time. IL must be ad-
mitted. was greeted by a sigh OF
relief.
Large Selling Day.
Transactions again went over
the million mark. Part of the buy
ing. of course. represented cover
ing by the shorts" and there is
little doubt that the purchases still
TO be made for this by account
would be very large IL the upward
movement should continue.
Crucible recovered chiefly IN re-
sponse TO a reassuring statement,
from the president OF the company
and the net gain OF nearly nine
points shows the urgency of the
buying. Southern Pacific again
stood out as a favorite. Its i'm
pressive action during the depres-
sion Of last week leads many mar
ket judges to believe that IL VIII
show a capacity for further ad-
yances. possibly OF a spectacular
character, in the near future.
Foreign Exchange.
Among the budget OF cheerful
items the strongest one was an
upward tendency Of the foreign eN-
change including sterling which rose
above its high level Of last week.
. Marks and francs as well as neutral
, exchanges were higher.
There was further irregularity and
weakness in the commodities. but
the signs are not lacking that the
depression in these quarters for a
, time at least. is nearing its end
Cotton rallied very sharply in the
! last half hour. Mills are buying,
! and there is really less pressure OF
actual cotton.