New-York tribune., 1922-11-21
Stock Prices
Irregular i'm a
Quiet Market
Industrial Securities Cen.
orally Register Moder4
ate Gains as Railroad
Issues Sag FractionlIy

Rsiaeivs inertia Characterised yesser~
days trading in securities, che volume
OF stock transactions being Che small
est for any dve-hour session lin severel
weeks. and interest or che financial
community. always concerned with
conditions OF Gux, turned TO the for.
eign exchanges, where the atreneth of
sterling. francs and lire was yiolsnt,v
registered. Sterling at s4.ss& for
cables attained level only slightly he
low its best for 1922 and nearly q
cents above ite previous close. TEA sa.
vance, however, lacked the element ~
the spectacular supplied by the auick-
ening rise Of francs, which covered
close TO another half cent In their re-
bound.
The Significance of the foreign ex-
change movement as q reflection of
recent political and economic aeye,ap.
ments in Europe Is partly blurred bv
the extent to which Its impulse has
been derived from technical market
influences. Francs at their closing
price of 7.4i3s cents for cables had
retraced the ground lost over several
weeks in about as many days. Specu.
| iation is assigned by experts as hav-
ing largely accentuated the decline,
which terminated below $40 cents. and
| it is TO the covering of short commit
ments that the succeeding advance
owes much of its impetus. But hap
penings reported ia che news were to
a degree influential in causing the ini-
tiation of the rebound and they have
undoubtedly aided the movement. The
election results in England, the pros
pect Tor business cabinet in Ger
many, the new accord on the Near East
these among other things have counted
1or the advance. Sterling's position ia
largely independent Of the casual fiuc-
/ tuatlons of the other exchanges and
its strength, emphasized BY ysster-
days gain, is not associated to the
game extent with internal market con-
giderations.
lhe rise OF foreign currency values
attracted some attention on the Stock
Exchange and possibly contributed Co
the firmer tone Of security quotations.
Efforts of professional operators TO
profit by prosecuting the decline in
particular stocks or groups of stocks
were at least temporarily curtailed.
| and such speculative interest as an.
peared was on the side of the advance.
Moderate gains were realized in the
comparatively few issues selected to
register this interest. These were
mostly industrial securities, resulting
IN rise of more than half a point in
the average price of thirty industrial
stocks, whereas the railroad price av-
erage sagged fractionaIly. Bond trad
ing was without important net results,
Call money. as anticipated from the
bank statement, firrhed TO 5 per cent
after opening at An
Cotton was subjected to substantial,
liquidation on the theory that domes
TIC mill requirements had been filled
and that the export outlook was not
bright. The close was 40 to 6s points
lower. Traders in the wheat pit, re-
ceiving reports Of larger than expected
Argentine production and Of increasing
world supplies, also operated mainly on
the selling side Of that market, and
prices of this commodity declined / TO
2 cents net, according to the option.