The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-04-18
9USS-TEUT PACT
BRINGS DROP IN
ALL EXCHANGES
nv STUART r. WEST.

wall Street, view vi NJ Apiii
1x-The complications In Euro
mean politics, threatened by the
rsw German Russian agreement
-ere more OF an influence in the
,srLets today. Even so, their eff
2srts were small. The foreign ex-
1ssnees went lower, especially
s-s,.cs and lire. Foreign govern
-,ent securities, particularly the
r-sanch issues. were shaded in
a-sce and there were periods of
rsry heavy selling in the specuia-
.gye industriais in stock exchange.
Rut in all these instances such
-.srtion as occurred was no more
man might have been expected un-
a. any circumstances. The ex-
ebauge market would have been
the 0uarter to reflect serious ap-
nrehension over the political de-
gaIonments had there been any
such feeling in international bank
snr circles. AS it was the decline
in sterling and continental rates
was too small TO be OF any impor-
lance.
In the stock market the main
tendency during the first half OF
me day was very uncertain. There
MAS heavy pressure against most
If the industrial favorites but this
was offset by sharp Cpbidding of
railway stocks and a few indus
trial specialties. 1t was clear,
however, that the demonstration
IN rails was organized as a cover
10 distributive sales in the indus
trial section. In the afternoon this
selling commenced to show and the
decline in many of the recent lead
ers became quite sharp.
The reactions spread to the bond
market after some of the railway
issues in the early trading had
reached new highs. The action of
Liberty bonds continued to indi-
cate that immediate objective had
been obtained with their return to
par. AS a rule the principal move
ments in the bond list were in the
fsemi-speculauve issues and their
rise early in the day corresponds
10 early strength in railway stocks.
This maneuver in railway lists
did not succeed the way it had on
other days in drawing attention
away from the selling in the indus
trials, the rest of the market re-
NAMED Indifferent, while such
dividend payers as Union Pacific,
Atehison and Canadian Pacific
we're crossing their former highs,
remained equally unresponsive to
the upbidding one after another OF
the non-diyidend paying rails, then
when these expedients had been
exhausted, started up .on the down
ward path.
When the market finally turned
downward in the afternoon the de-
cline was very general. 1t was
quite pronounced in the early rail-
way leaders as it was in the indus
trials, which had been more or less
weak from the start. The import
ant steel, motor and equipment
stocks were all down to points
from their recent high before the
rank file of the street were fully
aware that real reaction was
under way The experienced trad
ers realized it was inside and not
outside conditions which were &C
countable for the decline.
Tn days decline in the security
markets might have been set down
10 purely technical causes. 1t was
the sort of abrupt and short reac-
ton familiar in markets which
have been long moving all one way.
But there was a larger meaning
than this to the happenings of the
day. They showed that conserva
tive sentiment was at length exert
ing itself as against the reckless
and ill-considered speculative &C
tons of the previous days. Those
who were most optimistic three
months ago regarding the business
situation can see no excuse for
such a wild performance as was
staged in some of the industrial
stocks at the close of last week.
This was the sort of maniupfa-
ton which characterized the infld-
ton era of two years ago. 1t had
no place under conditions like the
present, where the utmost expect l
outside International trade is the
restoration of normal production
and very moderate profit margin.
The downward movement, once it
got under way, was quite impartial
IN Its efforts. 1t bore just as heay-
lily against the railway shares as it
ald against the industrials, although
the latter as a group was of con-
SlQeFaDly from their ION