Evening star., 1922-11-25
:.]ARKETLEADERS
IN QUICK REACTION
= ~~tudebaker and Baldwin
Lead Slump in Today's
Final Trading.
BY STUART r. WEST.

:--,.cal Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, November 25.-For
1,rlay's sudden renewal of the SELL
~: movement on the stock exchange
ne fundamental explanation was
nat the liquidation which has been
Ing on intermittently for over
rnth in response to the necessity
..t strengthening the Wall street
-.uSition had again broken out. Ihe
mediate occasion for exposing this
e,akneSS was the announcement OF
~ Bethlehcm Midvale merger anu
~. discovery that. so far from being
4 argument i'll favor or the Steei
tnrks, it could actually be used as
. club against the entire market:
The huge addition to the Bethle-
I'm Steel capital was the thing most
assisted upon. But besides this the
ought was in peoples minds that
his latest merger had been put
trough in an effort to reduce costs
- meet the sharp competition now
Ding on in the steel trade. The
nlume of business is, indeed, very
.nod. but it is a question for the so
allied independent producers or the
profit margin. and whether TINS Is
s.uough TO make a satisfactory show
Ill current earnings.
Leaders in sharp Break.
1t was when the market received
The merger news with indifference
and Bethlehem and Midvale shares
.nnlmeuced to fade away that traders
we're encouraged to renew their ef-
.nrts on the short side generally.
These efforts were more succeSstui
.han those of the previous days. eS-
pecially when directed against stocks
like Standard Oil of New Jersey.
Studehaker and Baldwin Locomotive.
in which last summers bull move
'nent had been carried to the great
-st extreme. The Standard Oil shares
sold we'll below where they were be-
lore there was any talk of a stock
dividend Baldwin Locomotive felt
the effect of the disappointment
aroused over the disclosure that with all
that has been said about the excep-
tional business of the equipment
companies during the last half year.
earnings for the full twelve months
of 1922 will be considerably under
those of 1921.
Other Declines Moderate.
Apart from these and IL few of the
high priced industrials the declines were
moderate In the rails. coppers and
sugars the losses as a rule were less
that a point. There is nothing in the
outside news apart from the Bethle-
hem-A1idvale merger that could have
possibly had any bearing upon the stock
exchange movement. Week end reviews
describe the general position as salts
factory
Sterling exchange drew close to the
$50 level or within &c in the pound of
III" highest of the year French flames
We're little changed one way or the
other. whil" Italian lire went higher.
4 nGtabic incident. which deserved
to count more than it did in the cal
culationS of the day. was the i'm
prnvement in French bonds.
The weakest period in the day was
the last quarter Of an hour. Stude-
baker was off points and Baldwin
locomotive :. as compared with their
highs of Friday morning. Steel COM
mon got down to the lowest since
September. Columbia Gas was the
worst sufferer among the public util-
itieS. although there was nothing in
the earnings situation of the COM
pany to warrant the decline. Railway
stocks We're eff any where from a
point to two points. The close was
very weak at the lowest of the day.
\ dividend at the annual rate Of per
cent will be paid next February on the
sl2,oO 900 outstanding common stock of
the National Cloak and Suit Company,
a large mail-order business. according
TO the latest information received in
the street Dividends on the common
have not been paid since 1920. when dis
frihution at the rate of SO. per cent was
made. The dividend record of the COM
pany covers four Years from 1917 to
1920, during which payments were
from 81 10 ) per cent.
Most recent estimates set the cur
rent rate of net income of the COM
mon at close to $40 a share. The
volume of sales in October was the
largest for any month in the COM
pany's history. and the total volume
for the year is expected to reach $40.-
100000. National Cloak and Suit has
no bank loans, and is in a strong cash
Dpcit inn