Evening star., 1922-08-07
RAILS MAKE GAINS
IN FIRM. MARKET
Many New High Quotations
for the Year-WaII Street
Confident.
BY STUART p. WEST.

NEW YORK, August THE two
chief characteristics in the financial
markets today were the persistently
cheerful view taken of the domestic
labor situation on the one hand and
the dubious opinion reflected on the
other hand regarding the outcome
of the latest effort to settle the Eu-
ropean problems.
The coal strike conferees adjourned
their meeting until too late in the
day for anything to be known about
it previous to the closing of the stock
exchange.
But Wall street expressed its con-
fidence in an early termination of the
coal strike and also its belief in a
similar adjustment of the railway
troubles by launching an active buy
ing movement in number of INDUS
trial stocks and bidding up railway
shares. some of them to the best
prices reached this year
Rails Very Firm.
The strength of the railway groups,
bonds as we'll as stocks. was the most
significant incident of the day, for
it came in face 'of advices that the
president was about To issue Il
proclamation to the country on the
gravity of the situation produced by
Ordinarily document of this sort
would be calculated to have an un-
settling effect upon sentiment. espe-
cially IN speculative quarters, but it
had no such result today.
On the contrary. the railroad stocks
We're the strongest they have been at
any time since the strike began. 1t
was not only an expression of assur-
ance in the strike outcome. but it was
definite indication to experienced OBJ
servers that the market for railway
securities was in strong hands.
London Conference.
For the cue to financial judgment
regarding the London conference Of
European premers. the continental
exchanges were more trustworthy than
sterling. The market for sterling is
still feeling the effect of transfers of
gold to the United States in prepara-
tion for payment of interest on the
British war debt
Under this influence these rates
were strong today. while the CONT
nenta! currencies We're weak. The de-
cline was more pronounced in French
francs than in other rates, as il nat
urally would be in view of the greater
stake which France has in compari-
son with the other allies in the exac-
tion of the maximum German settle
ment.
1t would be premature to conclude
much from the drop in French and
Italian exchange today. but certainly
the Interpretation was that lnterna
tional banking opinion is not disposed
TO hope for great deal more from
the present economic conference than
from the preceding gatherings AT
Genoa and The Hague.
Motors and Tires.
Chandler in the motor group and
L. s Rubber and Goodrich among til.
tire stocks'were the objects of special
selling pressure. The action OF
Chandler Motors for some time past
might seem t" suggest .unfavora BILE
developments impending. But those
in Il position to know what is going
on in the compane's affairs assert
that there is nothing wrong either
present or prospective. The $500
dividend they say is safe
Eut chandler, like the other motor
companies. did It's big business in the
early part of the year and has PASSED
the peak so far as 1922 is concerned.
Consequently there is no incentive for
speculative operations in the stock.
and insiders. while ready to buy on
the attractive investment yield. on a
scale down. have made no effort to
help outside SPECTATORS sell their
stock or to check bear operations
The low selling prices of tires,
brought about through very sharp
Bile for the decline in this class of
stocks. Bear traders aided by scat
tered outside liquidation. were able
to knock Goodrich down over points
before the break was arrested at all.
Chain store stocks.
The remarkable advance kept on in
the leaders of the chain store group
-Kresee and Noolworth. Associated
Drygoods. May Department and
Wnhnr and al R-pnar
along with these TWO. The broad
reason for the strength in this set of
stocks is well understood. They rep
resent companies doing a large buSI-
ness at greatly diminished cost as
compared with preceding years.
kresge's profit margin is the biggest
it has been at any time, and esti-
mates of what the company will be
able to show this year run from IA
minimum of $2S TO a maximum of
S3o a share.
Big Investment Buying.
The investment element was in
creasingly important in the stock
market. 1t showed in the advance in
high priced industrials of the type of
Woolworth. kreSge. American Tobacco
and National Biscuit. all representing
companies so well fortified in their
treasury position as well as by cur
rent earnings that present dividends
anu III some instances extra ulStTlDu-
tion may be regarded as assured.
In these stocks. as in the market
for railway bonds where a number
of new high records for the year
were made, the need of adjusting
values to the declining rates OF
money interest was carefully borne
in mind. Undoubtedly. investment
buying was an important factor. too.
in the remarkable strength for the
dividend paying railway stocks.
Equipments Lead.
As shares of the mail order and
chain store companies had been the
features of the forenoon, so the rail-
way equipment stocks We're the after
noon leaders. Baldwin Locomotive.
American Locomotive, Lima Locomo-
tive and Pullman We're all actively
bought in the last hour of business
on the familiar ground that strike or
no strike the railways must before
long bring up to more nearly nor
nal their depleted stock of cars and
locomotives.
AS no industrials are more seriously
threatened by the coal shortage than
the steel companies. the steadineSs of
the independent steels was signifi-
cant indication of how Wall street
felt toward the coal strike. The weak
spots in the general list were con-
fined to some Of the motor shares and
to the stocks of the power companies,
tho latter because of abnormaIly low
prices to which their product has
sunk.
Latest Strike News.
The Presidents latest proposal in
the railway strike that the seniority
question be referred to the United
States Labor Board and that the shop