New Britain herald., 1921-06-18
WEEKS REVIEW AND IMMEDIATE OUTLOOK
Henry CleWS, New York Financial
 Expert, Gives His Opinions
Especial to The Herald.) .

New York, June lS.-Passage by the house of representatives of the
 Porter peace resolution and prospect that the senate will likewise reach a decision regarding the same subject in the near future indicate that our foreign relations will shortly reach a definite basis, which has been lack ing ever since the conclusion of the war. The news that a. tentative agreement has been reached in the treasury discussions regarding the treatment of evidences of Allied in- debtedness in the hand of the de- partment points likewise to early a adjustment of the financial side of our foreign relationships. While progress in Great Britain toward a settlement of the coal strike has not been as decisive as had been hoped, a conclusion of the controversy ap- pears to be near at hand.
 Progress in Business Development.
 The business events of the past week. although not in all cases pleas ing. have been constructive in. the sense that they bring the period of readjustment nearer to a close. Sharp reduction in the price of Sugar and corresponding downward movement in sugar shares has been impending for some time past. A somewhat similar situation exists with respect to oil, while, as regards that commodity, the situation is fur ther complicated by the fact that our relations with Mexico are ap- parently in uncertain condition, due to the refusal of President Obregon to recognize the rights of American .oil companies. The break in the Mexican oil shares, largely due to rumors of exhaustion of the wells. was the dark spot in the trading side and naturally hurt other shares sympathetically. Reductions in wages by independent steel companies, es- timated to amount to about 15 per cent, probably bring costs of produc- tion at those establishments a good deal nearer to a final or stable basis, although there is as yet no apparent revival in the steel industry as a whole. Decided upward movement in demand for, and in production of, goods continues to be limited to a comparatively small number of lines of trade.
 Better Railroad Conditions.
 Although transportation earnings for April do not show in the aggre- gate as great Improvements as had been hoped by some who were guild ed by the indications afforded in a
 limited number of cases. the general opinion of railroad authorities is that conditions are improving. This is indicated by traffic reports. As a result, some stocks have shown inn provement during the past week. Uncertainty regarding the dividend policy of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific lines was relieved
 by the action of the directors of the latter road on Wednesday, which proved the bright spot of the week. An unfortunate development during
 the past few days has been the in timation, given out by certain sen | ators, that there would be an in quiry into the question whether the railroads had or had not spent too much on maintenance during the period of government guarantee. This was apparently with a view to bringing about a reduction in the | amount that the government must pay to some roads to cover losses during the months of earnings guar | antees.
 Market Review and Outlook. l Stock Exchange business has been
 upon a moderately good scale dur
 ing the past few days, and the tech
 nical position of the market nas
 been decidedly improved by the liquidation lately taking place and | the fact that quotations for many
 stocks are low enough to prove at
 tractive. Advances in prices, such as
 have occurred from time to time during the week, can be relied upor to take place sporadica1ly whenever | there is any definite movement to ! cover. The sharp losses. like those
 in the sugars and oils, are due to l special conditions. At the present
 moment, however, there is not mucf | to give stocks any strong, upward
 movement, since little help can be