Evening star., 1922-12-20
STOCKS LOSE MANY
Of Days ADVANCES
Uneven Price Movements
Again Indicate Lack OF
Definite Trend.
BY STUART p. WEST.

BN
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, December 20.-The
outstanding incidents in To-Day
markets were further reaction in the
foreign exchanges. new high record
for the December wheat option, heavy
buying at higher prices In liberty
bonds and a very uneven price move
ment on the stock exchange.
With most of the explanations
which the speculative community au
Vanced for the ups and downs IN in
..cauainted There was noth!hs ne"
IN the story that Baldwin Locoliio-
i've and American Locomotive We're
,1anuing extra dividends, or that the
heading and Lehigh segregation
pIans were likely TO he puplisned a.
socks we're getting ready for the
session when orders Tor the he"
year commence to pile IN.
Conner shares Indifferent.
further advance in copper prices
-this time tn 143, cents pounu-
found the market for the metal s'ochs
unresponsive, apparently ~
their advance Of the last Week hau
temporarily discounted TINS eSlieh'e
or
The difference between the steer COZ
noratious and the independents IN the
r,ras.nr state of the steel industry was
again emphasized in the dlvtrsihS
movement to their stocks. Eethieheh'
steel In particular was actlNeiH soii
at the same time that nlted S'a'es
steel WIS moving forward
Weakness in shipping stocks indl-
Gated the prevailing view that IhnrS-
lays dividend action on Mercahtile
Marine preferred Will be unfaNnfao aoie.
Some of the oil shares were utNhlteiS
strong while others We're sluggish
Dividend paying rails were dlsposea
to cover. while low-priced rails We're
heavy and in one or two instances
weak This was the sort of CONFUSION
obtaining all through the list.
Tobacco products is doing now the
largest business in its history, ana
earnings are breaking all recoius.
Based upon estimates for DECEMBER
and the known results for the hrSt
,lrvcn months. the surplus atallaole
sor dividends will be fully twice that
OF last year.
The Locomotive stocks
In connection with the strength in
locomotive. stocks, rum"rs are heard
nf extra distributions because OF the
heavy business booked for spring de-
livery. ON Januar: l of this year
American locomotive reported s26.-
IL uuu in c"Sh and Investments and
Baldwin E"6 6.ff3. .pph. Lima Locomotive
. said 10 hv doing an even better busi-
ness than its two competitors in COM
l,ariSou with its facilities. and an in
erase ia plant is now contemplated
('DSlau * 60. iN cNTrCtcd TO show
earnings of At least $lu 4 share this
Lear.
Net. after d"ducting taxes and in
t.rtst charges IL is said. Will total
I.... N~l.hft
Year EarGin ings last year were only
= cents Il Sh arr uu the common. The
company will retire all of its out
standing bonds. amounting 10 s1.'so'-
,"". cn January |.
Buying Of iron Products today. as
for some time past, was connected
with important. changes which. II Is
understood. ar" und,Y way affecting
thu financial structures Of the com
pany. When III" p''es,i., plans are
PUT through, the result. IL Is
aid, Will Lee highly favorable for
Iron Products for Ihr calendar year
VII be about S900.OVn net after all
charges, depreciation and other
write-otfs.
Sterling Exchange Drops.
Th, fact that sterling should have
sold nearly Q cents und fr its extreme
high last week did not mean that the
recent rise had exaggerated true
conditions or even that il had been
.,nduly accelerated ly speculation.
MI it iuplipd Was that the major
operations. the exact nature of which
have remained a mystery. but which
were directly responsible for the
fifteen cent rise i'll little more than Il
week. have hee1 completed. French
francs came down u Int, htit German
marks were steady, despite all the
II the German loan.
The buying of liberty bonds might
we'll have been set down as one of
The first signs of the customary prep
aratioES for the January reinvest-
uent demand. Eut whether or not
his was 50. the rest If the bond
market was not affected, The stock
market continued to follow along the
same lines upon which il has p"eri
moving ever since the combination of
no autumn decline in Thanksgiving
week 1t was not market essen
TALLY interested i'll general conditions
ind showing any general drift one
way or the other. Rather ii was the
now familiar series of special move
urenrs due TO considerations of a Spe-
clal character.
Steeis Sold Rapidly.
On the face Of things the selling IN
independent steel stocks might have
weekly trade reviews. which told a
story of unusually active business for
This season Of the year. Ordinarily
he pre- holiday time iS Il period of
duilncss ana shutting down of plants.
hut this year the mills aye busier than
they have beru in any corresponding
December since lHl,.
The unfay nrablr action of tne in
dependent steel ShareS. despite these
statements. simply goes 10 show that
'he main consideration in the stock
market ut present is not so much the
volume of business as il is the profit
margin. and this margin at current
steel prices is not large.
Heavy Prcfit-Jaking.
Realizing sales as the afternoon
went on made themselves felt in such
Early leaders as Baldwin Locomotive
and Studebaker. The weakness in
t!rthithem : eel. rejecting uncer-
tunty regarding the maintenance of
the dividend, and in = pu lie S,eel's
anticipating the announcement of
now financing had depressing ef-
feet upon the whole list. Steel COM
mon. which had been strong in the
l. l..