New-York tribune., 1921-01-28
Oil Stocks Cain
In Dull Market:
Sterling Up Again
British Exchange Continues
to Recover, While Rise
of ates on Paris
and Berlin Is Checked

The dullness into which the stock
market lapsed after the main force
OF the violent rebound from the de-
presslon in December had spent itself
became further intensified Yesterday.
IN comparison with the million.share
days, which were not infreuuent dur
ing the dynamic bull market days of
1919, or the equally dynamic bear
market period in 1920, TIE ticker which
reflects activity at the trading posts
yesterday kept unwinding slowly and
,anguidly.
The progressive shrinkage of the
volume of trasactions, recently meas
ures the. extent to which the outside
public has for a time withdrawn from
active oper1tions at the marketplace
The irregular fluctuations represent
little more than the efforts of pro-
tessIonal traders to exc out profits
from quick turns. Although there was
a tendency toward weakness in the
market in the forenoon, there was a
rally In the afternoon, and the net re-
suit Of the days trading consisted of
gains in both railroad and industrial
stocks. In the bond market profit tax
ing and the competition of new offer
lngs brought about further slight
reaction.
Outside of the impressive dullness
IN the stock market, the speculation
for the rise in the oil securities stood
out. The statement of the general
manager of the Mexican Petroleum
corporation that operations in 1920
were unprecedently profitable and that
those of 1921 would be doubly so
served as the spark that lit the fire
OF speculative imagination and caused
gains. not only in Mexican Petroleum,
bat also Royal Dutch and other listed
on shares. AS matter of fact, E. II.
Doheny, president of Mexican Petro-
leum, was widely quoted in the nress
TO the same effect several months ago.
The broad, upward movement of ster
ling exchange continued yesterday, and
brought rates on London to the highest
level quoted since last July Sight
drafts climbed to S3.8S1a, revealing a
gain of 3A cents for the day and nearly
IA cents for the week French and
German exchange, which have also been
firm, tended to hesitate yesterday, and
rates on Paris closed slightly lower.
This development puzzled some OBJ
servers, who believed the motivating
force behind the rise in the European
exchange was the prospect of a settle
ment OF the reparation question by the
Supreme Allied Council, now meeting
at Paris. If European economics are
relieved of uncertainty by decisions
that may be made at Paris, sterling ex-
change is in the best technical con-:l
dition to respond to favorable develop
ments. When trade conditions were
most unbalanced sterling was de-
pressed. not only because Of the situa-
tlon in Britain, but also because the
Continent of Europe was persistently
selling sterling to- buy dollars to get
American goods. If conditions in Eu-
rope improve the opposite process will
benefit sterling Moreover Britain is
in stronger financial position than
any of the Continental countries, and
the rise in sterling reflects this as we'll
as the better balancing of the coun-
try's foreign trade and such specific de-
velopments as the negotiations to fund
Britain's debt to the United States
Treasury.
The strength of exchange has i'm
parted steadiness to the cotton market,
where quotations closed 40 to SO points
higher; wheat, after it's reaction dur
ing the two previous days, recovered
from l to 11a cents pound, and corn
was irregular.