The Washington herald., 1922-08-23
FINANCIAL
IRREGULAR TRADE
FOLLOWS PREVIOUS
STOCK STRENGTH
Rails Quiet and Lower;
Selected Industrials
Gain.

NEW YORK AuE. ss.-frrssular-
ity IN the stock market today being
lee sox unnatural SEQUEL to ysster-
---= ==zrked strength. rails wave
cisssnctiy more quiet and fraetten-
amp lower. while sharp advances
among seiscted industrials were on
set ~ declines in other members of
this group. Sales again approxi-
mated loo. 900 shares and the reac-
'tions seemed to be due to the temp
tation to take profts rather than
to any real change In sentiment re-
<srdinE the likelihood of Q settle
~sent of the rail STRIKE A son,-
wnat similar condition existed In
the bond department.
Rails Are Halted.
Stocks continued to move for
ward this morning but the move
ment was not that Of one solid
phalanx as was the case yesterday
and during the latter days of last
week. The rails. advance guard of the
the market for a week or more, were
practically halted this morning.
oulY st. Paul preferred and common
snc~sd the strength which has
HldI htu 81 tIldHN OF lnt TdtiFOdo
sues for the past week. Among the
industrials too. there was consider
ole irregularity. A few issues were
conspicuous for notable strength
our there were also signs of weak
ness IN considerably greater number
Of stocks than during any recent
session
Transactions in the rails were on
counted a remarkable display Of ac-
tivity only few days ago but COM
pared with yesterday afternoon
when nine out of every ten trans
actions printed on the tape were In
the railroad issues. this group of
stocks seemed rather tame this
morning. There was nothing ap-
preaching weakness among them.
however. in spite Of the fact that
there was some evidence that the
professional bear element was in
clined to put out lines Of short
stock on the interviews with Ger
tain railroad executives carried In
the morning newspapers regarding
the labor situation. Selling from
this source as well as some profit-
taking drove some of the steadier
rails down a point during the first
hour but there was so large a de-
mand for stocks just under the
market that prices quickly re-
bounded to about Mondays closing
levels.
O~ and Foundry.
Car and Foundry's overnight
jump of seven points was unex-
planned by any change in the COM
pany's position or prospects that is
known in the financial district and
apparently resulted simply from de-
nand for the stock based on the
company's extraordinarily strong
position and the prospects lor large
orders from the railroads. Nothing
IN the whole Industrial situation ap-
pears more certain at the present
time than that there will be a car
shortage this fall Of very serious
proportions and car shortages al
ways mean large orders for the
equipment companies notwithstand-
ing the fact that delivery of cars
cannot he made in time for use dur
ing the period OF shortage itself.
American Tel. and Tel.
American Telephone and Tele-
graph registered even greater in
diFertnc to prospective new
stock issue than did Chesapeake
ard Ohio. While no announcement
was made regarding the matter, re-
ports from what was regarded as
an authoritative source were in cir
culation that the company is con-
siderins financing its requirements
over the next two years through
another offering Of shares to stock
holders. The stock sold off frac-
tionally this morning but recovered
to l2i, within a fraction of the years
high and maintained that level.
Under present circumstances there
is little question but that the pres
cnt stockholders could absorb an is
sue Of new stock larger than that
:" successfully floated by the COM
pJuv last year.
Y. :. steel Grants Increase.
An interesting incident in the
afternoon was an announcement by
the United States Steei Corporation
of 20 ncr cent increase in the
wages of unskilled laborers. ef-
fcCtive September 1. The change
serves to recall the fact that il was
a year ago that the corporation re-
duced these wages TO 30 cents an
hour The present increase un-
oUhtedly reflects the greater COM
petition for labor which was evil
dent in .the steel industry during
the summer months and. in addi-
tion. the corporations growing
ability to make. profits. No an
nduncement was made as to the re-
lstion. il any. which the new wages
may have to the much-debated
question Of working hours.