The Washington herald., 1922-05-19
SPECULATION IN II;
STEEL SECURITIES
SEEN SUBSDDgG
Changes Fractional, With
Steady Tone-CopperG
Shares Active.

NEW YORK. May it-rrafinS
In stocks. though stiii active. was
somewhat less 40 than on yestef-
day. The speculation In steel
stocks showed signs Of subsidinE
and price changes within this
group were fractional with the
tone steady. Copper shares ~ers
active. being helped by the nrn,-
ness In the price OF the metal and
vague talk about thu POSSIBILITY
Of mergers. Rails also were in
better demand than for some time.
Taking the list as a whole. frsc-
tionsl advances predominsted. bones
remained Irregular. but a better
undertone was apparent. Call
money ruled at sh per cent
throughout %
| .E--s.
stsrts win R.sh.
Thts mornings market started
on with rush. trading continufnr
In about the same volume and
with the same issues absorbing the
main share Of speculative atten-
ton as during yesterdays session.
Coppers continued nrm. but the M
dependent steel issues duplicGted
great irregulsrity after the open
ing transactions which were gen-
orally 1t higher prices. Runors
with the regard to the progress
\ OF merger negotiations were fsr-
ersl and conhicted. and traders
bought and sold the important
steel shares in accordance with
the most recent version. prices
huctustinG accordingly. Midvsle
was again the subject Of much
Of the gossip centerinr about the
steel merger. Reports that the
company is TO be taken into
the Bethlehem-Lackawa cem.
binstion persisted during the morn.
ing. in spite OF yesterdays denisls
but around noon quotations soft
ened under the influence Of per
sistent selling which was gen
orally believed 90 come from quar-
ters which were heavy purchasers
Of the stock earlier in the week.
The valuation put upon Midvsle
by the present controlling interests
is understood 20 have been to-
high for some OF the other parties
TO the prospective merger.
Copper
Those who expected some reac.
tion In the copper shares this
morning following their move OF
yesterday were disappointed. A
number OF the more prominent Is-
sues In this group hung up new
highs for the year early in the day
q VI = =
to the new level. Prices for the
metal are exhibiting a noticeably
frmer tendency and in some quar-
| ters predictions are freely made
that l5-cent copper will be seen
within q week and that is cents q
pound will be the ruling price be-
fore the first half OF the year is
ended. At any rate copper Is sp-
| preaching the magic figure OF IL
cents. which In the long ago DAYS
before the war used to mean boom
times for the industry. while
conditions are OF course materially
different today In the matter of
production costs. still there is Ut
tie reason to believe that reduc-
ton in costs will not continue for
some time to come. Meanwhile.
merger rumors. not 80 blatant as
those which alternately amuse and
excite the Street in regard to the
steel shares. but still persistent
rumors. are discussed in connectio,
with the copper group. In general
they forecast the lining-up Of tuc
or more groups which shall each
include both high cost and low
cost producers.
It was reported today that time
loans at the 4 per cent rate were
available for sixty-day periods for
the first time. that rate having
previously been restricted TO loans
for thirty days with some money
available during the past two or
three days for forty-fve days.
Loans for all the longer maturi-
ties are now freely made at az
per cent. the 4L per cent rate
having disappeared. Considerable
sums have been available for call
loans at 81 per cent for several