The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-05
|TERLING HITS
ANOTHER HIGH /,
SPOT AT $3.50
RI STUART p. WEST.


II New York, June 25.-Another
|'.smarkable advance in sterling ex-
mango today carried the rate up
MOVE the $3.50 mark. This was a
~ain of more than 2 cents in the
nound from the Saturday close and
ras the highest reached since early
IaIy. 1919. At that time as the re-
mil chiefly of Europe's huge pur-
ehases at inflated prices OF Ameri-
Fan foodstuffs which were rolling
nm tremendous balances in favor
II this country, sterling began re-
markable decline, a decline which
IA not eliminate until the rate
was down to $3.15.s that is s1.7I%
i from normal. At today's. figure,
his depreciation has been reduced
10 IS cents in the pound.
Nothing else that happened in the
I market was as important as the
sterling movement. How largely
the juIdp across the $3.50 level was
que % speculative operations bas-
/ "a upon the fact London was clos
ca for business and the supply Of
exchange drafts originating from
| domestic sources was temporarily
small will not be made clear for
another day or so. Undoubtedly
the completing of the British treas
ury's plans TO begin payments in
American war debt has been L
strong incentive to fresh specula-
ton. This speculation has in view
that Great Britain has balanced its
budget, has heavily cut down its
paper note issue and has converted
an unfavorable balance of trade into
L favorable one. In other words,
/ It has either fully or partly reacted
from the three months restoration
OF its currency TO normal value, the
return to the pre-war parity with
the American can be looked upon
7 no longer as remote possibility.
Speculative enthusiasm in the
stock market has been consider
ably lessened. This was obvious
from the start today. There was
no great accumulation or over Sun
day buying orders, such as the Wall
\ street pools had been hoping for
Two explanations stood out plainly
for the apparent Indifference of the
outside public. One was that the
4 wild performance at the close OF
last week in some Industrial spe-
cialties brought recollection of the
sharp check which the speculative
element showed two months ago
The other was the disillusion of the
vast body of traders who had con
ceived extravagant nations of what
the various mergers would do IL
the way of the enhancement of mar
ket prices.
The testimony brought out on the
stand Saturday that the latest stee
merger stock, which came on the
market at so was the same stock il
which the bankers and lawyers con
cerned in the deal paid 10 for, was
calculated to have a SOLDERING inf1u
ence. At all events the former
steel Independents and most of the
stocks involved in the tobacco mer'
ger were among the weakest on the
list. The trading quieted down as
the day went on and this decreased
/ volume of business, quite as mucf
as the reduction in prices.
The bond market, like the StocE
market, moved at a slower pace
h One reason for hesitancy in invest
Il ment quarters was the expectation
that new issue of treasury certifi
Gates of idebtedness would soon b.
l coming out and was likely to carry
/ higher rate than the last one.
4 the rate were fixed at 81 percen
against 312 percent, the figure o
q the 5000, 900, 900 May offering, i
would not be due so much to the
recent slight hardening of th'
money market. as to the fact tina
the banks and private investor:
would be asked to take such an un
usual quota of government obliga
tons within so short a space o
time. Moreover, a 81 percent rat
would better fit in with the provis
ions which the new offering woult
carry to be exchanged for the ma
turing victory 81 percent notes.
At the low prices of the day
reached in the early part of the aft
ernoon on the stock exchange
some of the recent leaders wert
down very substantially from thei
high points of last week. Thu
main body of stocks, while heavy
q were not at all seriously depressed
4 In the late dealings, steel common
was pushed up to new high, quit
possibly to offset the disappoint
ment over the action of the mer
ger stocks, and the effect of tn
news from Washington that tn
federal trade commission had TAX
en- steps to prevent the Bethlehem
4 Laekawanna steel combination Of
the ground that it violated tn
Clayton act The diversion in u
Steel fulfilled the purpose of check
ing selling in other parts of tn
market and bringing about Ger
AIN amount of recovery. The las
hours dealings, however, were al
most dull, when set beside the ex
cited speculation close of 'las
week