Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-15
.[0ANABLE MONEY
NOT So RARE NOW
Men Who Sacrificed Stocks A.,
Eager to Regain Their
Holdings

New York, Jan. 15.--The fnanci,,
outlook is presented today in the IJoro%
as follows:
In the week closing today tho nrou
Use of alleviation in money condition.
implied in the recent upward course 4.
sterling exchange rates, was fu,erol
il still remains to be seen whethcr ,hi,
state of things will long obtain md
whether the prevailing plcnitudo =,
loanable funds, relatively speaking will
lead to revival Of Speculative intero..
in securities outside the ranks NJ tL.
floor traders. Wall street was in donk,
concerning those points and Others
The stock market itself failed to 70.
spond with decision, although the hon,
element was sufficiently perturbcd "i%
respect to its borrowing obligations ",.5 on5
deprived of the assurance which cbor'
actcrized their operations through Ia.
cembcr. Excellent ABSORPTION of a.
ferings was conspicuous feature fro,.
the first to the last. but there was notb'
ing whatever to indicate that the traJ.
ing public was prepared to buy cy.
tensiv. ly.
Those who sacrificed stocks Io,,
month in the interest of the 1920 INV
return were indeed dcsirous of rcgainns
their holdings. It was also truc tba,
investment interests were influenced br
attractive prices for some issues and
were alert in saizing favorable onnor'
tunitics for acquiring them. The two
forces constituted the underlying bnv,
ing power which. on occasion. was smn.
pemented by the need of the shorts f,r
covering. The after force acconntnd
for the frequent bulges, while the for.
mcr constituted the basis Of consistpn,
resistance to pressure whenever tho
bears felt constrained TO indulge in tbs
habit of months in selling short.
Price cutting Continues
These considerations hammered tbs
creation of conditions favorable to
beginning of the process of discountinr
the expected gradual Improvement in
business and industry. 1t was scarcely
to be expected that the mental attitude
toward the business outlook should bc
changed almost over night. 1t was n
settled conviction that improvement viii
be slow. and until more certain eyi.
dcnces of business revival come to hand.
with the completed liquidation of re-.
tail merchants and adjustment Of the
wage question, that conviction will pre-.
vail.
The banks were, for the moment M
least, relieved Of a portion Of their
burden in the current week. There has
been eliminated vulnerable long ac.
count in the stock market. In many
instances stocks have gone into strong
hands and the existing supply of the
standard issues was not large. The
buying which lower retail prices in vari.
Gus commodities have attracted enabled
merchants in measure to build IN
their resources for liQuidating bank
loans. While the obligations Of the
metropolitan banks We're such as TO
limit the score of the relief to them
interior institutions found themselves
for the moment in funds which they sent
freely to this center to be loaned.
Drop in Call Loans
The result was drop in call loans
here to 6 per cent on Monday to Thurs.
day, and on the latter day the renewal
rate was marked down to q per cent
for the first time in some six weeks. In
the middle Of the week fixed date loans
were down to 6 per cent also for mixed
collateral and Gla to Gai per cent for
all industrial collateral There was
likewise n good demand for prime bank
acCcntarceS Mt concessions.
Whereas. the official money rates
were slow to respond to this Temporary
state Of the money market, it was freely
commented upon that money was being
loaned outside at call at from ) per
cent down to per cent.
The reason was clear enough. Funds
in New York were not so plentiful but
that bankers disliked the probability
of their being withdrawn to the interior
where possibly better rates could be- OBJ
tanned. 1t was also to be noted that tN'
discount rate of the Federal Reserve
Bank still stood at I per cent and 1t
was a question If the present t"ndGn,
cicS forcshadowed a reduction in that
rate. 40
1t was about year ago-Ianuary -
1920. to he cXact-that the Federal Ke;;
serve discount rate on romn'rrlaI
paper was advanced from 49, per
cent to per cent, and it was on Nay
80 that it was raised to Z per cent u
has stood at that figure since. -.
The retail or has at last been forced 70
face the inevitable and the aV"ruEe
man has been enabled to purchase ar
ticleS which he has long been IN wan
of but which he was determined Nv.
70 buv until the retail merchant was
disposed to bear his share of the Duo
den of rcadmstmcnt. Thut time m
hnnd. The trade journals note n'oIio
lively interest in the markets, drA8oou'
in particular.
No Purchasing for Speculation
"Whilp purchasing is still cautious
and restrictcd.' writes Dun Loo, MS
larger in some instances thah ny Iosoms p
cXrcctcd. and is the more W''o'rIo, an
and rcnSsuring because 1t Is pAStu noc.
actual requirements, ana not on S.iIe.
untivp antiripations. IL, T'r 70.
spread movement toward GOWhNIH,,m I,na IA
vision of wages. although tending an
lessen the general buying power 10 ~
influence making fOr lower Irrs s, n
consumers. and tho public r'|p'"ro, rro,oG
thc snecial offerings OF goods IN isfor.
channels has become more S"''
tory" A.. ,o-t u,ocl's in.
nrnvcmrnt had broadCncd and d""',"r"'
rcvnrihclcss bank clcaringS 90 nor rto,
~noI any actual improvement:
ogcncv ronorts total c'carinsS ,oS.
e. 40 or 900, or 12.1 per cent ,osa ,m
thon last week and 1916 per cGi't 1000
thon the corresponding week 0. , tban
Thn loss was greater in New orh 'u%s ,"rs
nrt.idc The more important ryH'b N,
reported losses and only sew" ios
Gfty cities reporting showed E"II'' Ep wpre
business failures for, the "'o" "" cam.
jo1 according to BradStrcStn.o u, 1920 |
morcd with 422 last week, IL l.,ortion III
and 1871 in 1919. The Dun peto"wpSwbat