Evening star., 1921-06-20
BEARS IN CLOVER,
RAID RECKLESSLY
New Laws on SteeIs, Loco
motives and on OiIs-RaiIs
Are Weak.
BY STU ART +. WEST.

! NEW YORK, June 20.-l;verything
in the financial situation today ,gain
| was subordinate to the development
! in the stock market. The same
characteristics shown all last week
were once more apparent in the move
ment of prices. a large number of
Estocks were heavily sold and broke
badly. Many new low records We're
made.
| Reports from the steel centers over
Sunday seemed to be more pessimis-
| tic than ever regarding the chances
| Of an early turn for the better. Ap-
| plication for :. receiver for one of the
minor oil concerns. while its impor-
tance was unduly masnitied. served to
| bring to notice the depression in the
i oil trade. which in another way was
| exampIiffed by fresh cut in gaso-
| line prices
\ report that the administration at
| Washington would insist upon
| general and sweepin" reduction in
| freight rates as indispensable to
| business recovery. was made much
| of, although its authority was alto
gether dubious.
| These were the new materials upon
! Whlch tne speculative movement i'"
| today.
Steel common and shares of the IN
| dependent stecls were equally weak,
and all made new lows
The selling of the American oil
| shares. which had held up compara-
week in Mexican Petroleum. was ex-
trcnlcly heavy. 1t is undoubtedly
| true that the enormous wrIte-oifS :
| in oil Inventories since the first OF
| the year will prevent most of these
| companies from showing any. prof
II, and in some cases will result IN
| a loss
1t is not believed likely that the
/ authorities at Washington will be-
gin lowering rates until tn" sltua-
| ton has been gone into thoroughly
! and the reduction. when it does come.
! will take into account the varying
! needs OF individual industries.
There Is no question that the i'm
precision given out from high quar-
rcrs that rates must be cut. is hav-
| ing its effect upon the attitude of
| shippers generally and is one Of the
causes promoting business stagna-
] ton.
Break on Gurey OIL Trouble.
The main cause of the heavy selling
! in American oils was the announce
ment that Tidewater Oil had applied
for a receiver for the Guffey-Glles-
! pie Company. the majority of the
stock of which is owned by Tidewater
1t was not clear how far this appli-
cation WAS due to the unfavorable
conditions in the oil trade and how
| far to a family DISPUTE regarding the
| management But at all events the
, receivership appeal. it was felt. would
| not have been made had the Guffey
Gillespie been solvent. The incident
served to fasten attention again upon
the heavy losses which most of the
/ oil producers have suffered as the re-
suit of the enormous shrinkage in
prices since the first of the year. Tex
as Company and Sinclair were the
hea West sold of any, but the entire
group was affected.
Rails Weak AEnin.
The selling movement continuing in
the rails was partly affected by re-
ports from Washington that general
cut in rates is impending. These re-
ports cited no authority. They simply
asserted that at the interview some
time ago between the President and
the chairman of the Interstate Com
merce Commission the former had
expressed himself very strongly to the
was necessary to business revival.
On the other hand. members of the
commission are understood to favor a
discriminating cut-that is. readtust-
ment which Will distinguish between
commodities suffering from present
freight tariffs and those which are
not. The more practical explanation
for the weakness in the rails is a
technical one. There has been alto
gether too much advice during the last
month or so to buy the rails" lot
Of small people followed this advice
and created a vulnerable speculative
position which the hear crowd Satur-
day and today set about exploiting.
Some Accumulation.
One house with Chicago connections
reported today that the west was in
the market on the buying side. This
was the first time that this has oc
Cured in considerable period. 1t
was not said that the buying was COW
ering Of short contracts. but the init
nation was given that the west was
going long of stocks. thinking them
attractive at these levels.
Another wire house with Chicago
correspondent received a message
from the west today which said: "All
Of the regular customers failed to put
in an appearance this morning. but
there are lot of bargain hunters in
the boardroom, and this in the past
has been a sign that the market was
near turn.