The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-23
SIeNS POINT TO
TRADE REVIVAL
N WALL STREET
nv sTUART P.WEsT.

rsw York, Feb. 23.-There ap-
..ared further testimony to the re-
s~skening OF speculative interest
4 nj the leading markets today.
rsis was especially pronounced on
IL mock exchange and in the wheat
~ English, French. Italian and
rsnadisn exchange continued to
sush ahead and there we're certain
4 no signs of the elimination of
IL moves. But the expansion of
stoek market business, and the
ritaIitv shown in the wheat mar
lst when prices went higher than
eyer. were matters OF more inter-
eft today.
whether the increasing volume
n stock exchange transactions was
sn index of reviving outside par
ticipation was not altogether clear.
Most OF the inspiration for
the price movements still ap-
scared to come from pro-
tsssional sources. But even a eau
tous public. which is still smart
ing from the lesson of. year ago,
AN not fail to be impressed with
the multiplying proofs that trade
recovery. checked at the beginning
g the winter, has been resumed.
The skeptical will point out at
such a time the upward movement
IN stocks has seemingly been out
of all proportion to the amount OF
busiuess Improvement which has
actually occurred But these crit
ics persistent1y ignore the fact that
a speculative stock market is all
WAYS looking to trade conditions
not as they are but as they are ex-
uected to be six months hence.
The quick recovery in wheat o2-
tons showed that the wheat trade
"a quite as dependent for its optirn-
,stic attitude upon calculations of
supply and demand in foreign coun-
tries as it is upon the prospective
shortage in the United States. The
Canadian market, while ours were
closed for the holiday, had taken
a rather serious view of the rain
fall reported from the arid section
in the southwestern states. But 1t
took the Chicago wheat pit only
few minutes to recover the two
cent decline and push ahead again.
fhis exhibition of confidence fol-
lowed the statistics of the day
which showed that export takings
were decidedly on the increase.
The dollar loans of foreign gov
ernments were the outstanding
feature in the bond market French
government TVS for the first time
reached par. The French SIS also
made a new high. The demand for
English and Canadian securities
was also keen. The effect of the
rise in the foreign currencies was
visible also, in pretty much the en-
tire list of investment stocks which
in pre-war days were held large
ly on the other side. Canadian Pa
cific as the ranking favorite, was
the one most largely Influenced. But
the strength of such other stocks
as Union Pacific, Northern Pacific
and Atchison undoubtedly reflected
the view that with the increase in
the purchasing power of the pound
and the franc, Europe will be anxi
Gus to recover holdings of American
securities which were thrown over
when the premium on the dollar
was mounting.
Heavy profit taking toward the
middle of the afternoon began
Needing some outside pretext for q
reaction, one was found in the rise
in the call money rate to pei
cent.
The afternoon decline in stocks
however. was nothing more than q
surface fluctuation, which had nc
meaning for the Wall Street situa-
ton as a whole. The speculative
leaders came off q point or more
from their best. Wheat options
too, lost their midday gain, and
early advance in cotton was partly
counteracted by speculative realiz-
ing.