The New York herald., 1922-08-09
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Stock Prices Close Irregularly,
With Rails and Steels Re-
sisting Pressure.

Professional traders took advantage yes
terday of an early advance OF stocks. due
to the favorable coal strike developments
to bear down heavily on .oil and rubber
issues. striving to bring about a genera
reaction. The understructure of the
market proved. however. to be toe
strongly constructed to permit of weak.
ness, except in quarters where the at.
tack was pressed.
The highly irregular price front at the
close. while disclosing some unsteady
spots, was marked by sturdy resistance
of the rails and steel stocks. In broad
aspects the market was a duplicate OF
last weeks sessions. Outside of q &
roint break in Mexican Petroleum. coun.
terbalancing new high points in Bald
win Locomotive, Chicago and North.
western, Union Pacific, Corn Products
and one or two other railroad shares
trading did not have many interesting
features.
The cotton markets weakness brought
forward new factors to study A week
ago bulge Of IS to 50 a bale suggested
that the estimated crop of 11,449, 900
meet the home and foreign demand and
seemed to forecast quotations consider
ably above the % cent level for much of
this years sales. The stimulus proved
to be very short lived, declines in prac-
| tically every day thereafter reaching its
most rapid pace yesterday with reces-
sions in futures quotations OF 1910 to
$3.70 q bale. From the maximum prices
Of last Tuesday to yesterdays closing
figures the reaction reached from $40 to
more than S11 bale.
The sharp contrast between cotton
and stocks in the last few days is made
all the more striking because both mar
kets in final analysis have their bases
in the same thing-the progress of bust
ness. Last weeks brisk upturn OF cot
ton was thovght by some to supplement
the rising trend of stocks as a barometer
of business conditions. But 1t has be-
come apparent since that doubt has
arisen in speculative circles whether the
actual demand for cotton will be as
great as was believed few weeks ago
/ especially as the new complications over
allied finances and German reparations
payments point toward continued unset
tlement of European industrial affairs
for some time to come
Whatever the ultimate connection be-
tween cotton and security market move
ments 1t may be said that latest returi.s
point toward excellent grain crops and
a good buying power in the middle and
north West this autumn. The Govern
ment's condition report as of August |,
issued yesterday, forecast a corn yield
only 63000.000 bushels less than the
great harvest of 1921: q wheat yield
10, 900 900 bushels greater than year
ago, and an expansion of nearly 200.-
000,0 bushels in the oats harvest. 1t
was with the expectations OF a satis-
factory August statement that buyers
Of shares of grain carrying railroads
have made their activities clear In the
persistent upbidding of Great Northern
preferred, Northwestern, Northern Pa
cific and st. Paul shares In recent days.
News that President Harding had
moved to keep Congress ready for action
in the strikes, II necessary. may have
had some influence In the afternoon re-
action of particular stocks. but coal
strike news was of greater moment in
shaping the market. The evident inten-
tion of operators and miner representa-
tives to work something out of their
conference in Cleveland strengthened
hope that bituminous production would
be resumed on large scale In the near
future.
Call money again went from az to
per cent. The foreign exchanges softened
slightly after a Arm start.