The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-17
BONDS DEVELOP
new ACTIVITY;
LBERTYS GAIN
BIZ STUART P. WEST.

Dbl " $500
wall Street, New York, May IT.
Interest in today's markets con-
-.r~ed chiefly upon the stock ex-
.hange list. Nothing important
ssrpened in the exchanges except in
q negative way again as on Tues
s.v they failed to show any sensi-
.s~eness to the uncertainties of
Furouean politics. Both sterling
and continental rates lost a little
-rornd but the decline was quite
;nsipuificant. Movements in wheat
and cotton were of less conse-
ruenee than ON other days although
ne fact that the July wheat OPP
. ii. should be holding close to the
h,ehest of the year while cotton is
hark almost to last Autumns top
sre of considerable moment, for
Inc entire business outlook.
There was rather more life than
has been shown for the last week
= 90 in the bond market The rise
IN the more speculative bonds was,
nj course, a companion movement
10 that in stocks. 1t was also note
worthy that Libertys, some of for
eieu governments and rails OF
strictly investment type. went
fractionally higher.
The stock market broadened out
yery decidedly as compared with
the selective trading of other days.
operations were still conducted by
groups but this group speculation
covered a much wider range and
eventually involved active buying
accompanied by higher prices in
fully two-thirds of the list. Cop
ners took the lead at the start and
maintained a prominent place
throughout the session. 1t began
TO be better appreciated that the
copper situation is similar to that
in the steel trade in the early part
of March. Copper prices have
started up as steel prices did then
as result of depleted supplies and
there is the same incentive for cop
uer mergers that there has been for
steel mergers-namely to effect
economies and better fit to meet
competition.
As the copper and smelling
stocks one after another passed
thair previous high points for 1922
the whole market became more
confident. The buying originated
with Wall Street cliques and syn
dicate managers and spontaneous
outside buying was a minor factor.
from practical point
of view, it was important that the
market situation should appeal to
these expert judges as strong
enough to warrant more generous
activity. The move in the metal
group included the lead and zinc
stocks as well as the coppers and
smelling issues. Studebaker was
the feature among the motors. Mo-
tors, MidVale among the steels,
and New Haven and Rock Island
among the rails
The steel stocks felt the effect on
the weekly trade reviews which
again struck q cheerful note. Some
increase in soft coal outputs &C
companied by a somewhat larger
production of pig iron. Both the
u. S. Steel Corporation and the in
dependents are operating at the
same high rate that they have been
following since the first of April
and despite this they all are getting
farther behind on deliveries, SO
|uueh that it is becoming more and
more the practice to offer preml-
ums for early shipment.
These are conditions which point
10 a very different showing in the
steel earnings statements for the
second quarter from that of the
ffst three months of the year.
The stock exchange, however
was still mainly interested in the
merger discussion and the special
strength of Midvale Steel. which
due to rumors that the company
migth be taken into the Bethlehem
Iackawanna combination instead
|of remaining in the six company
group. The heavy trading in Mid
vale was the feature of the last
hour of business but the whole
market became more animated as
the day drew TO an end. Oil stocks,
which had been tagging behind for
week or so, were taken up In an
ncipation of another early advance
IN gasoline prices.
More interest was shown in the
sugar stocks which hitherto had
hot reflected the improvement in
the trade position resulting from
the virtual exhausting of the un-
sold portion of the 1891 Cuban
sugar cFOn The rise in InterQa-
tional Harvester and other stocks
representing companies doing bus
mess with farms was naturally as
ISOLATED with the recent advance in
cotton and grain.