Evening star., 1921-12-03
TRADING IS BROAD;
STOCKS IRREGULAR
Rails Are Again ReIegated to
Background Closing
Is Firm.
spectal atch 10 The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. December 3.-Trading
in the stock market this morning was
quiet by comparison with yesterday.
Interest was limited to a number Of
special issues. some Of which were
weak, but most Of which went higher.
On the whole the market position at
the end Of the day was very little
changed. There was no suggestion,
any more than there had been on the
previous days, Of the reaction which
the trading element has been discuss
ing. On the contrary. nearly all Of
the fresh initiative was on the side
OF rising prices.
ties furnished the bulk of today's
broad but irregular dealings in the
stock market. rails being relegated
to the background. The closing was
firm. with sales approximating 350,000
shares In the bond market liberty
and victory issues continued to
strengthen, with a firm tone to the
general list.
No further light was thrown upon
the negotiations for the new steel
merger or upon the terms on which
the various properties are to be taken
in, but all the stock concerned got
we'll above even yesterdays best
prices.
Shipping Stock Active.
The other features of the day were
the shipping stocks, which were
actively bought on the news that the
President would soon come out with
a special message advocating Il sub
sidy for the American merchant ma
rine; Trans-Continental, Oil. which
was favorably affected by the COM
pletion of it's deal with Standard Oil
of California;; Westinghouse Electric,
Atlantic. Gulf and West Indies. Amer
lean Ice. Vanadium and Wickwire
Steel. On the other hand, Central
Leather stocks were very weak be-
cause of the unfavorable business
conditions surrounding the company.
and an unsatisfactory trade situation
was also reflected in the heaviness of
International Paper, Sears-Roebuck
and Industrial Alcohol.
Heavy buying of Trans-Continenta
OH, starting at the opening and car
rylng the stock up over a point, was
later explained by an authoritative
statement that the long-pending ne
eotiations between the company and,
Standard Oil of California had been
closed.
Specialties Move.
There were number of interest
ing specially moves, but not all of
them up. The Central Leather issues
ior the heavier grades of leather is
still depressed and the company is re-
ported doing very little better than
1t did in the two previous quarters.
when heavy deficits were shown.
The street nursed along both of yes
teroays movements-the Independent
steel merger and the coal merger. 1t
took only moderate amount Of buy
ing to push Midvale up above 90.
Lackawanna Steel and Republic were
both scarce when buying got into
them again. Pittsburgh Coal and
Pittsburgh and West Virginia were
the favorites among the coal stocks
The street is full of talk regarding
increased payment in regular diyi-
dend rates of several of the standard
companies. One of these rumors is
that the Studebaker dividend will be
this is offset. by talk of further price
cutting by the same company. An
other report is that the American
Locomotive Company will increase
it's common dividend. Still another
is that the Pierce Oil Company viii
pay something of account on back
dividends on the preferred.
The declaration of the regular
dividends on International Harvester
was one more occurrence which
caught the short interests unpreparG
ed and there was quite scramble to
the opening. Those who took a short
position in the stock-one big oper-
ator being short thousands of shares
had figured that the dividend was
gone.
Curb Trading Fair.
Business was fair on the curb ex-
change but after early advances had
been recorded in some issues there
was a somewhat easier tendency due
to the taking of profits. The oil
shares attracted most attention. but
some interest was shown in mining
issues, Corte silver being active and
strong with a good demand for time
lin Eureka Croesus and Boston and
Montana. Acme Coal was more active.
The tobacco stocks were easier.
Anglo-American and Simms Petro-
leum were features of the oil list.
both being in demand at higher
levels. Standard Oil of Indiana eased
of on profit-taking. Small advances
were recorded in International Pc
troleum, Salt Creek Producing and
Imperial Oil of Canada.
Phillip Morris led the reaction in
the tobacco shares. United Retail
Candy, which usually moves with the
tobaccos, acted Independently and
moved up a small fraction. Business
was smaller in bonds. The tone was
steady and price changes generally
were confined within fractional limits.