Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-09
STOCKS OPENED UP,
but DID NOT HOLD
Current Market Simply a Con-
test Between Opposing Spec
ulative Forces

81 New York. Dec. 0.--Tnkcn together,
sxioy's stock market was Il meaning. I.
..s professional affair with the net
.osr,ia without any significance what =
ser There was fairly buoyant
srcniur aud prices of most Of the stocks
.r,in advanced in the early part of
a. scssion. The momentum OF the
,scovcry gradually lcsscncd as the
aemaud from tho short interest dinin-
ishrJ, from which quarter the market
.nnarcntly derived its principal buying
Z ncwcr. In consequence. the latter hali
cf the session was marked ny slowly
s.cedinr prices. by which process most
q tnr initial improvements was
cancelled. T., J.,
(, .s professional interest. who continued
conduct thcir operations in seeming
disregard of outside news Developments.
West of the overnight developments.
,Sowcvcr. were Of n distinct construc.
,.,,c typc. including the Presidents
ncssasc. strength of sterling. increased
.ar landings and optimistic weekly
rontinucd strength of United States
4 covcrnmcnt bonds. sharp recovery of
O. Imlis and San Francisco Railroad
tssucs and further weakness of the st.
po"l liens were the outstanding
Ssvelopmcnts of the bond dealings.
Tho weeks developments prove con-
clusiycly internal conditions continue
the real dominating influence of the
cnrrent market situation. Until there
has been a. satisfactory adjustment Of
.Toirs in this connection ithere would
snncor to be little hope Of the market.
az whole, assuming anything ap-
proaching normal equilibrium.
Increasing cross currents have been
estcadily injected into the situation. and
In consequence. some of the very
shrcwdcst Of market judges find it
most difficult to obtain satisfactory
hearings which will permit intelligent
measurements of future possibilities.
Probably the only strong point in favor
Of thc market is the prepondcrant bear
ish sentiment among the professional
trading element. As there is always
4 prcdsposition on the part of these
operators to everyday their game, there
Is possibility Of an unintentional
safety valve being created. which. in
turn. may prove II powerful backlog.
At the moment. the situation virtu-
ally narrows down to vigorous contest
Tor supremacy on the part of the oppOs-
ynE NhiNhs iOi
the time being, appears to be so nicely
balanced SO that neither side for any
considerable length Of time can claim
the advantage. In other words, the
adjustment process has brought the
market TO juncturc where it easily
and quickly becomes either Oversold or
oycrbought. according to the predOmi-
mating whms and fancies of the profess
sional trading element.
Some observers during the week
claim TO EIve found n striking similarity
between the movement of the current
market with that of 1902. They
assert the speculative position is idcnti-
cal and the current gyrations are in u
measure faithful replica of the swings
Of that period. Reference to the mar.
ket movement Of that year disclose
similar break in October and NOvem-
ber such as occurred this year. In
1902. vigorous rally set in about the
middle of December. which was main
tained we'll into February, in turn,
being followed by declining prices run
ming until August.
Curiously. this dovetails with tho
representations of some long distance
observers. In their opinion, there should
be material rebound from the shake
WI VI the laSt SIX weeks because OF |
technical oversold condition of the
market. Such recovery. they claim,
would be sustained not only by the re-
buying on the part of those who have
taken losses for income tax returns. |
but would also have the stimulus and
the sustaining influence of the pro-
verbal January reinvestment demand. |
After that the reading is somewhat
blurred by the breakers expected to be
encountered through hostile legislation |
element