The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-22
BIC TURNOVER
IS REGISTERED
AMONG STOCKS
BY STUART 2. WEST.

DI W Lc
wall Street. New York, May a.
The two foremost features In the
markets today were an enormous
/ turnover In the New York stock
market and the conspicuous weak
ness OF the continental exchanges,
especially francs and marks.
The big business on the stock ex-
change and the further advance
with which it was attended clearly
indicate that the outside public had
recovered from the check given the
consultative movement at the out
set of the month and was once
more pouring its buying orders
into wall Street These outside
purchases and the operations OF
nooIs and large trading interests,
encouraged by their profitable
ventures of the year so far, sup
: nIied the two main elements on the
! buying side On the other hand
realizing sales were extremely
heavy and made their influence
felt While advances predomin-
sted the movement was very un-
even and there we're many stocks
, which either failed to gain or fall
behind. For the first time in three
{ months French exchange got be-
low the 9 cent level. German
marks got down close to their ex-
I IRENE low of the last week in the
! market. Italian and ether CONT
{ mental rates were lower but not
. IN any important degree, while
/. sterling stood up strongly. 1t was
apparent from this that the main
factor in the exchange movement of
the day was not the Bulgar revo-
: luton nor the warlike statements
of the Russian Trotsky. Had there
been any genuine uneasiness on
either of these two matters, it would
have shown on British exchange
as well as the rest. The fact that
/ the only real weakness conferred in
French and German rates, proved
thar it was anxiety over the repara-
tons question that was the main
. consideration Selling of francs
marks for the last week, or more
has been merely speculative dis
, counting of the anticipated German
answer of May 81, it being felt that
. this will be in the chape of a claim
that Germany is unable to meet the
/. terms fixed by the reparations
/, commission.
While the principal part of the
days big business on the stock ex-
change was speculative there were
more signs of investment activity.
The better class of railway mort
cages were higher although the
gains were slight, and stocks of
an investment type like the divi-
dend-paying rails, American Tele-
phone and Telegraph, the high pric-
ed tobaccos and various Industrial
preferred shares came in for more
attention with some of them up
quite sharply.
This was the investment mar
ket's response to the reduction last
week in time money rates. The
prominence of the railway stocks
both the higher class members OF
the dividend group and the low
priced altogether speculative Is
sues-expressed the reinsurance
felt at the outcome of the White
house conference with the railway
representatives Saturday night.
There has been some hesitation at
the possibility of some drastic an
nouncement regarding rate cuts.
As it now appears the adminlstra-
I ton nor the Interstate Commerce
. commission is inclined to force
the hands of the carriers. The lat
: ter may initiate lower rates in GER
g tain specified commodities like they
did in the case of hay and grain at
the outset of the year. But the
chances are that there Will be no
general reduction until the labor
board has acted on the new wage
! scales and then the road will carry
out their promise to pass on to the
: public whatever saving in labor
-Tcosts may come to them.
Railway stocks had been consld-
cradle out of line with industrials
in the advance of the last fortnight.
.Today's operations served to par
italy close the gap. Such repre-
sentative issues as Delaware and
Hudson, Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western, Union Pacific. New
York Central and Pennsylvania
either eQualled or surpassed their
best previous prices of the year.
So did number of the low grade
stocks like the Fries and the Wa
bash. In the industrial section
the movement was much more
variable Studebaker and Chandler
were bid up but without drawing
the other motor stocks with them.
Steel common made a new high in
the last hour and there was sharp
recovery from Saturdays decline in
Midvale Steel and Republic. Steel.
On the other hand. the copper
made no response whatever to an
other advance in metal prices, this
time to 13 rs cents a pound. Ship
ping stocks were strong at one
stime and so were the tobaccos but
gas against this most of the Ameri-
can Oils were freely sold, and
some of them lost ground on the
day.