Evening star., 1921-05-14
BEARS WORKING
ON SPEC|ALT|ES
Famous Players, Oils and
Motors Under Pressure.
Expect Dividend Cuts.

NEW YORK May l4.-Thc marke
this morning was made up of further
! efforts on the part of operators 10
find weak spots. This resulted in a
series of drives against various in
dividual stocks. which. for one reason
or another. were believed TO be vul-
ncrablc. Mexican Petroleum was one
that broke badly on information that
there would be another report of an
unfavorable nature in the near future
regarding the Mexican oil wells
Continental Can made a new low.
anticipating the passing of the divi-
dcnd. and Chandler was heavily sold.
discountinS. SO it was thought. "A re
duCtton in the rate at the next meet
ing. Atlantic Gulf, Sears RoebuCk. and
Famous Players were others TIA.
yielded sharply. and Stcc! common
gave way bit under determined
pressure.
Covering Elsewhere.
But while the traders were selling
these stocks they were covering up their
slort contracts in others Such favorites
of the previous bear speculation as
American Sumatra turned about and
we've quite strong. Coppcrs held steady
under the eucoura cement afforded by the
better prices of the metal.
On the other hand. the American ra lis
were NOR" uncertain in their movements
California Petroleum kept conspicuous
iy strong. and pool operations made
themselves felt in Texas and Pacific.
which still has the name of a guaSi-oil
stock.
Selling the Oils.
But in some of the other oils a good
deal of selling was induced by the Tide
water Oil report for the first three
months of the year, showing a deficit Of
s1,SS6, 900. This was a reminder that
most oil companies will have a heavy
wrte-on in their inventory to make as
tn" result Of the decline in oil prices
The foreign exchanges continued their
upward tendency. but the net gains for
the day were small.
Bear Operators Active.
The big operators on the bear side
or the market were in evidence again
today, raiding special issues at the
same time they were covering in
other directions. One of the main OBJ
Jects OF attack was Famous Players.
which had had a very swift rise to
above so. and. therefore. was in a
weak technical position. The raid
knocked the stock down point al "a
time. and seemed to find the market
unprotected. In other directions the
big operators for the decline were
hammering at Steel common and
Bethlehem Steel + while at the same
time they were covering the short
commitments in Lackawanna Steel
and Republic Steel.
Week of Important Meetings
Next week will be an important one
Tor several companies and in many
cases dividends are expected to Suf-
fer. American Telephone and Tele-
graph and Union Bag and Paper di-
rfF''"rs r"et on Tue saay
CUBAN American Sugar New York
AiIhrak" and Rerublic Steel directors
I me-; on Wednesday. The dividends
Of all these companies are expected to
undergo some revision downward
On Thursday Bosch. Cambria. Ma
/ tional Lead and Industrial Alcohol
directors meet. The Bosch d vidend is
expected to be passed.
Motors still Sinking.
The motor stocks and related issues
continued to sink to lower levels. with
Chandler getting down close to it's
low level for the year. The action of
Chandler leads lot of people to he
; lieve that the stock is discountine :.
reduction in the dividend rate from
the $40 rate now paid. although di-
rectcrs may wait until they get into
! the meeting before making a decision,