The New York herald., 1922-11-01
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Another Violent Break at the
Close Sends Stock Prices l
to 4 Points Lower.

The break IN the stock market IN
the last few minutes of trading yester-
day equaled, and in some cases ex-
ceeded. that Of Monday In point OF
violence. Losses ranged from one to
four points and more and at the close
virtually all issues were at the lowest
points Of the day--lower in most cases
than they were at the end OF the break
last month. There were no develop
ments in the general situation which
could be said to account for the de-
cline. 1t was moro likely. a continual
ton OF the break of last week and Of
Monday. interrupted only momentarily
in the early hours of trading yesterday,
while some important short lines were
being covered.
1t is still the opinion OF experienced
observers OF the market that the liqui-
dation Is coming principally from what
the street is pleased to call the public.
Much has been heard of professional
operations and, no doubt, they have
played an important part In the stock
there can be no denying that the out
side interest in the market was very
large. Every indication points in that
direction--interest IN commission houses,
brokers' loans, &c.
It will be interesting to see at the
| close of this week what change the
liquidation in the st ock market has made
in the banking position in New York.
Last weeks selling was reflected In a
very substantial lowering of outstand-
ing loans and. unless all signs fail, there
should be at least an equally large re-
duction this week.
The United States Government war
loans and AZ per cent. Treasury bonds
were stronger. indicating that the in
stitutional and corporation selling. which
has been a dominating factor in the
investment market for more than a
month past. has eased somewhat. The
new Treasury bonds sold up to within
one-tenth Of one per cent. Of par and
closed just slightly below that point
| Thus they have recovered a full 100
points from the low of $3.50 established
last week. figure at which they never
should have sold in the present state OF
the money market. Other bonds were
irregular, and some OF the railroad issues
were inclined to heaviness at times dur
ing the session.
The quarterly figures of the United
States Steel Corporation made public
| yesterday were somewhat better than
expected by those who have followed
the course of the industry during the
last three months. The shopmen's strike
| and the coal strike were factors which
| held the steel mills down very mate
rally in their operations and the pro-
| sress which they might have made
with the orders that were coming In
and the decidedly better tone through
| out business and industry was ham,
pered considerably. The quarterly fig.
/ ures. however. show that the losses oc.
! casioned by the strikes were Just a
little bit more than offset by the wider
| operations and as result a small in
crease In earnings was possible.
| 1t is bit early to forecast the pres
ent quarters results. but II no further
| barriers are put in the way of taking
! full advantage of greatly increased or
ders, giving particular attention to the
| mass of rail business taken toward the
end OF September. there iG reason to
believe the showing at the end OF the
year will be excellent. IT was during
| September that the corporation, along
with every other branch of Industry
was forced to bear the brunt OF the
burdens imposed by the strikes and
! this is reflected in the decline in earn
/ ings shown for that month.
Foreign exchange rates moved mar.
rowly. francs and lire regaining some
OF their previous losses. Foreign bonds
on the other hand. were weak. In tn.
grain market. wheat prices recedet
| substantially below the best levels o
! Monday Cotton quotations were vir
tually UNCHANGED at the close. Their,
was some calling os loans late IN thu
day and as a result call money moved
from 5 to 81. per cent.