The New York herald., 1921-12-31
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Stock Market Easily Absorbs
Heavy Selling-Prices Have
Underlying Strength.

The stock market absorbed yeSter-
days output OF year end sales with ease
and the underlying strength OF prices
was sufficient to meet news of q large
brokerage failure without any reflection.
n feature OF it's business was substan-
tial increase OF trasactions on the New
York Stock Exchange for cash and en-
failing immediate delivery of stock
bought. Presumably much of that busi-
stock owners to record losses in depre-
ciated securities, as sales in the regular
way would not be completed until the
first business day OF 1922. But great
many issues in which cash sales wero
noted on the ticker We're ones which
stood far above their lowest quotations
OF the year, indicating that the effort
to conserve tax money. to say the least,
had been strangely delayed. Call money
went from per cent to 6 per cent. in
the afternoon, that rise being about the
only evidence OF the effect Of January
demands upon the money market seen
this week.
The market for stocks was at times
ouite irregular, and in bonds much the
same condition prevailed. Victory bonds
went to new high prices for the year at
the same time that railroad issues were
firm and foreign bonds inclined to sag
A rally of more than points in Sears,
Roebuck & Co. shares showed that the
short interest had been rounded up. fol-
lowing the unusual procedure taken py
the president of that company to carry
il through its period Of readjustment
after a year of falling prices and slug
gish goods sales. There were net gains
of a. point to more than points In such
shares as Allis- Chalmers. American lce'
Houston Oil, Railway Steel Spring.
Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard
OIL of California and several specialties,
and as the larger part Of those advances
occurred in the afternoon, the stock list
looked it's strongest near the closing
The trading area was broader than II
was on Thursday, result OF the incen-
tive Of holders to close out their COM
mitments before the end OF the year.
The wheat market was unable to un-
derstand for time why futures should
be under pressure, especially as the
Governments winter wheat report on
Thursday had indicated a condition
usually described as bullish, but with
announcement of the failure or New
York Stock Exchange house. which had
been a large factor in the grain futures
market, some light was thrown on the
decline that had extended from "a TO
more than cents a bushel during the
morning. A moderate rally occurred In
the final hour of business. Cotton op-
tions were firm, although inactive, final
quotations being 10 to % points higher
than they were on Thursday. Spinners s
takings for the week, amounting TO
21o 457 bales, were $500 less than they
were in the preceding week, but they
had no appreciable effect on sentiment.
The foreign exchanges continued to
advance, especially those of western
Europe. Sterling went forward more
than cent to the pound. and a moder-
ate rally of Italian exchange seemed
to show that fears of wide ramifica-
tions OF the failure of the Banca Italiana
di Sconto had been allayed. There was
light business in all the exchanges,
offerings of sterling and franc bills
being rather scarce. 1t is the period OF
the year when European holiday making
tends to restrict financial undertakings.