The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-23
STOCK MARKET
EXCITEMENT IS
LACKING TODAY
nv STUART p. WEST.

.u.yf street, New York, May %.
The rate on call money renewals
- advanced today from 31z to
n n cent. but the incident passed
snnoticed in the security dealings.
sbe important thing. OF course. is
.rot the quotations on bank bal
ancas loaned out from day to day,
rbish. especially with the govern
ment so large a factor, are subject
- ouick shifts. Rather the true
eriterions of money conditions Is
me rates. fixed date loans and these
Were ND only slightly from the
,niniuum levels reached toward the
and Of last week.
The most notable feature about
s,he trading in stocks was the way
the market lost its excited appear
ance of other days. Slackening of
The pace was altogether a hopeful
sign. Otherwise the days opera
tioEs we're precisely the same sort
sort that have become familiar
unfolding of some stocks, while
realizing sales went on in others.
The result was a mixed price move
changes on the side of the advance.
There was a number of interesting
Incidents in individual issues. Erie
securities, both bonds and stocks,
we're In keen demand again for no
other reason, however, except a
somewhat belated recognition of
the change for the better in the
companys earnings. The Fries
have always appealed strongly to
speculative imagination, represent
ing as they do the one big trunk
line leading out of New York. The
bonds and stocks of which are
quoted low. Always there is the
suggestion of some other system
being attracted by these circum-
stances sufficiently to attempt to
obtain the control.
Another incident was a sudden
uprush in Republic Iron and Steel,
due to nothing more tangible, how
ever. than gossip based upon the
separation Of the Youngstown Sheet
& Tube from the proposed six COM
pany merger. The idea is that
low others may break away and be-
sought as members of the other
combinations. With these and a
few other exceptions, there was not
the same driving force back of in
dlV1duals movements that there had
been on previous days. From a
professional point of view, it was
a conspicuous symptom that the
market should have quieted down.
1t seemed to point toward a les
SEEMING of interest on the part of
outside public Profit taking sales
increased in volume as the day
went on.
The liberty tax exempt 35As vir-
tually duplicated their high of A
month ago but other government
war issues were little changed. So
far as the general bond list was
concerned, interest was confined
mainly to the more speculative
group. the companions of low pric-
co railway stocks that during the
early part of the day were being
pushed upward. By the last hour.
tne stock market had begun to de-
yelop positive signs of reaction.
Inc operations of the forenoon had
demonstrated that there was not
the same enthusiasm in following
pool activities. The market wore
q tired appearance and in the final
dealings the trading elements were
emboldened for the first time to
offer prices down. Their efforts
we're successful in uncovering the
usual stop orders and bringing
ABOUT in some Of the speculative ia
Vor1tes fairly sharp recession.
In the commodity markets, fuc-
tuations were of no particular i'm
portance. The cotton trade is OBJ
Viously waiting to get a better line
on the crop situation while the
wheat trade is endeavoring to fore
cast more accurately the foreign
requirements of the next few
months. Exchange rates for the
most part were about the same as
at the close on Monday but with
some recovery In German marks.