The New York herald., 1921-01-27
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Stocks Move Up Under Specu.
lative Leadership-Ster-
ling Gains 5 3-8.

Stocks were inclined upward yester-
day under the same sort OF speculative
leadership which has been In evidence
for the last fortnight. The advance was
not sufficiently uniform, however. to
disclose any new forces at work. and It
was noticeable that when buyers of the
morning sought to take their profits
In the afternoon prices reacted rather
easily. Again it was the foreign ex-
change market which supplied the
ahead with strength that indicated mod
crate offerings of bills and confident
purchases of traders who had become
imbued with the thought that the rate
was likely to reach the 81 level before
the impetus behind the current move
should abate. In a powerful upward
surge early In the day the London sight
draft quotation reached $3.S4%. gain
OF 5 S cents. and afterward the advan-
tage was maintained. As sterling has
Of 1920. the question whether It has not
discounted extensive changes In the in
ternational money situation and been
brought to point where some reaction
was in order might be raised. French
and Belgian rates were firm but there
was a soft tone in some of the Scan
dinavian quotations. The rate on Can
ada travelled abreast of sterling in Inn
proving further its position in New
York
Both stocks and exchanges have ex-
hausted the conventional explanations Of
the day. The bulges which occurred in
one or two oil shares, notably General
Asphalt. suggested the activity of pools.
but 1t is worthy of remark that most of
the incipient signs of such operations that
appeared fortnight ago, when money
rates eased off, have since disappeared.
The confused attitude of speculative
set forth In a prediction. heard yester-
day, that call funds would lend above
Z per cent before the end of the month
This expresses quite a change of senti-
that the market seemed to reflect the
thought that continued ease was to
be expected. what with the liquidation
Of farm products proceeding steadily
and general business demands growing
smaller. The Street has since learned
that the commercial loan situation, which
is the basis of the present stiffness of
credit, must be watched for the first
significant demonstration of genuine
easement. Mercantile discounts persist
at the 7% and per cent. level.
II 1t were not for the continued dis
cussion of probable declines Of steel
prices, with hardly an offsetting influ-
ence in talk OF general reduction of
wages. the position of that industry
might be thought improving. AS mat
ter OF fact, steel prices now generally
at or slightly below the level established
In March. 1919. could not profitably be
cut much further without lowering Of
costs. and the pivot of the cost structure
Is wages. Consequently the financial
community read with interest. but with
out animation. the weeks trade reviews
yesterday, which told of moderately in
creased operations Of independent plants
with prospects Of manufacturing at so
per cent OF capacity for, two weeks or
more on orders recently accumulated.
1t VIII require a more definite promise
than this of sustained business to show
that readjustment In iron and. steel has
gone the full distance.
A sharp reaction in wheat, and to a
smaller degree in corn, resulted from
bearish pressure and liquidation, the
former being urged by discussion Of
large supplies yet to come into the mar
ket In leading producing countries
Wheat futures receded about cents in
Chicago and corn cent busheL Cot
ton early in the session was a quarter |
cent higher than at Tuesdays close, but |
that Improvement was lost later.