The New York herald., 1922-07-11
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Advices From Europe Depress
French and Belgian Bonds
Stocks Act Well.

The unsatisfactory foreign situation,
centered in Germanys plea for repa-
rations moratorium was reflected yes
terday more clearly in certain Euro
pean bonds than in the final days of
last week. but stocks appeared TO throw
off the weight of Saturdays selling
and domestic bonds were inclined up
ward. AS grain quotations displayed
a firm front at the same time that
cotton was suffering another severe re-
action, the market movements were en-
! tirely too diverse to permit of any broad
deductions based upon events in all of
them.
! 1t was not surprising that French and
! Belgian bonds should draw back rather
sharply following the over Sunday de-
tails of Germany's hopes for relief from
the treaty terms covering reparations.
The dollar bonds of these countries had
begun to sag, accompanying the swift
fluctuations Of foreign exchanges last
Friday and Saturday, and the move
ment gained force when business began
yesterday. The French s per cents. at
one stage sold under par and ended the
session exactly at par. compared with
102 on Saturday and 103M prior to news
of the German program few days
ago The TVS were even weaker. re-
cedins TO s7A and closing at s7%. or
more than . points lower than at the
end of last week. Belgian Ss lost 2ss
points on the day and the TVS about
IL points French municipal issues
quotations OF this year. uN1 u
The decline of these European funded
securities was probably the result in
part of speculative pressure Nothing
would, be more natural than the rally
ing of short sellers. attracted by the
vulnerable position of French and
Belgian paper at moment when it
seemed as though receipts Of cash from
Germany against war bills might cease
temporarily. 1t would have been easier
to judge the more weighty market ef-
fects of reparations news IL dispatches
regarding the German proposals had
jsnot been so confusing. some stating
that the July 10 installment was all
ready to turn over to the Reparations
Commission. while others suggested that
! no more cash would be forthcoming, II
Germany prevailed. for the. next two
years.
The foreign exchanges evidently, re-
Elected speculative opinion that last
weeks fall had gone far to discount
future events. Only sterling went
lower. French and Belgian francs rally
ing after initial uncertainty and rnarks
getting shade above Saturdays last
sale price. 1t goes without saying that
the foreign exchanges will be difficult
to read until some decision is made on
the reparations.
Stocks were plainly controlled by con-
siderations of domestic business condi-
! tions after a pause i'm the first half
hour of trading. Selective purchases
| for speculative accounts carried a num-
ber Of industrial issues upward, notably
the can manufacturing shares and sew
eral steel and coal company issues. In
respect to steel. the July report by. the
| Steel Corporation was highly encourag-
| ing for both the present and future
OF the industry, untitled orders on the
! first of the month being 3Sl. .303 tons
greater than at the end of May AS
! the corporations mills were operated
at about 75 per cent Of capacity dur
| ing June. rate as high as II not higher
than in May. this substantial expan-
sion Of forward contracts bespoke ac-
tive buying. The aggregate Of orders
was the heaviest since April. 1921.
Railroad shares remained neutral In
regard to strike developments. price
changes being decidedly slight and
| mes ningless AS whole the stock list
was irregular. Call money eased from
Az TO 4 per cent