The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-17
about ss,41, as against last weeks

about $9.41, as against last weeks low of $S,1S; but other exchanges
 have shown decidedly less improve
 ment. The prospects of securing an
 adoption of the treaty have had
 good effect, psychologtcalIy speaking.
 upon the market situation.
 What is of much more importance
 is the fact that exports are now be-
 ing sharply curtailed and that the
 current indebtedness of European
 countries is being relatively reduced.
 OfSetting this factor is the circum- stance that the banks are tending to cut lines Of credit heretofore directly or indirectly extended to exporters They now look with much less raVor 1 upon loans secured by balances in
 foreign banks, notwithstanding that up to very recently loans were being | made on such security up to a sub | stantial percentage of the current ex- l change value of the balances.
 Exporters who have been relying on direct bank loans to carry their 1 foreign customers also find their ' credit in process of reduction 1 Whether the two opposing factors in i the exchange situation thus outlined i will about offset one another. thus l leaving the exchanges to fluctuate around their present level, or 1 whether one set of influences will for l the time being gain upon the other with corresponding effect on values is 1 still to be seen
 1 In the opinion of not a few ob- l servers the outlook tends to favor 1 further decline unless some very de- | cisive change in our foreign relation l ships should be produced at an early | date Meantime the maintenance Of ! the unfavorable exchange conditions | necessarily signifies a handicap for the time being to our goods in neu- tral markets and the effect of this l handicap is already being observed il loss of trade
 Va1ues and Prices
 New lows in a number of stocks 1 have been established during the pas
 few days and there has been severe
 liquidation in many branches of the
 market While there are many wht
 believe that intrinsic values arc nov
 so conservatfve1y represented in cur
 rent prices that further severe de
 clines are not to be looked for, 1t re
 mains true that the present situation
 is in an important way the outcom. of the money situation, while it i
 also unfavorably affected by the ap parent prospect of period of reor
 ganization in foreign trade In som | have taken place may be attributes directly to foreign trade alterations
 i a situation which might mean tha F the decline would be carried furthe , during the foreign trade readjust
 ment period In other classes 70
 shares the decline has been quite di 2 rect1y due to the cost of loan fund : which has led to the liquidation 0 l holdings that would otherwise nc have come on the market
 Conditions in the money marke : have also had their reflex upon bon and investment values. Liberty Bond have gone to record low prices, g I i times well below 90 for some of tn g issues, while other investment SC l curities of the best grade have als a shown the influence of the hig money rates. e Some funds which would ordir n ! ariIy have gone into investments ( = the ordinary types have been offere d for call lending and have to that e = tent been withdrawn from the fnves s ment market but the volume of SIC }. funds is small. In a banking way tf n flow of funds from the interior 5, New York for employment iii il y agricultural regions has been al h normally small and the relief theret l. obtained in the call market has bee J. correspondfngiy slight Local d. it mands have been sufficient to ernp1c T. practically all available funds.
 st Talk of industrial reaction is gail Il ing such headway 1t is supersedi1
 everything else as a market facto