Evening star., 1923-03-20
SPEC|ALT|ES ARE
AGAIN PUSHEDUP
Wild Jump in Piggly WiggIy
Feature of Today's Heavy
L Trading in Stocks.
BY STUART Il. WEST.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

BY STUART T.. WEST.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, March 20.-Following
the familiar practice that has char
acteriZed this seasons campaign in
the stock exchange, stocks which
were in the lead Monday dropped be-
hind today, while the buying shifted
into new favorites. This meant the
bringing up, one after another, of
stocks which had been doing rela-
lively little for several days or
week past, while the equipments, mo-
tors and sugars were for the most
part allowed to sag off.
The day began with vigorous up
bidding of some of the oil shares
Marland. Phillips Petroleum and Pro-
ducers and Refiners. But that these
operations were being overdone was
indicated by the way in which these
stocks came down in the later trad
ing.
Wabash Sale Hinted.
In connection with the strength i'll
Wabash A. the street had in mind a
deal for that road similar to the
series of deals which have brought
under one control the Nickel Plate.
Western, the Lake Erie and Western
and more recently the Chesapeake
and Ohio.
The buying in the Wabash brought
more activity into other low priced
rails of the type Of Rock Island.
land. The pool in Moon Motors
pushed its specially up to a new
high on dividend talk. American Wool
was bid up sharply, and so was Ma
tional Lead. Electric Storage Battery
responded to estimateds printed Mon
day that 1928 earnings Will be at least
s12 share.
The spectacular rise in Piggly Wig
gly was set down as the springing of
the much talked of corner and the
operation was regarded as singularly
bold.
Review and Outlook.
The opposing tendencies 50 long
noted between the investment and
speculative market was once more
Strikingly exhibited today A large
number of individual stocks were
bid up with the same ease that has
characterized these operations for the
last two months.
The downward movement in govern
ment issues. Is recognition that this
section of the market must adjust its
Yields to correspond with the higher
rates which the Treasury is paying on
It's short-term paper. but which was
true of the government group ap-
plies equally to all other high grade
couse of money rates and the invest
ment market foreSees the way things
are going now in business and in spec
ulaton, a gradual hardening Of the
money market.
The stock market of the day was
an exact reproduction of the market
which has now become familiar.
Stutz Corner Recalled.
Conservative people, having in
mind the Stutz Motors corner of three
wears ago. and its disastrous conse-
NuenceS. did not fancy what looked to
Wiggly shares. But the speculative
element, which never looks beyond
the immediate future and cares little
about ultimate results was not dis
turbed. 1t could still point out that
it was many months after the StutZ
episode before the penalty was paid.
Taking up the steel shares was a
logical procedure from two points of
view. In the first place it was dis
counting the midweek trade reports.
which are expected to be the most
favorable of any 50 far put out; in
the second place it was recognizing
the fact that considering the charac-
ter of the trade news. the steel group
was behind the rest of the industrial
share market.
Kennecott and Utah.
Predictions have been made in the
street that in June the Kennecott
Copper dividend will be raised from
the present SO annually to 81 and
that distribution on Utah will be
made at the rate of Sc a year. 1t
appears that on such a basis ex
change from Utah to Kennecott, as
already planned. will be favored for
figuring Ia shares of Kennecott for
every share of Utah; dividends of
81 on the former will mean per
cent in the event of an exchange.
l,a & IL n
of for Utah.
II was a matter Of considerable sur
prise that the stock exchange inves-
tigation into the Piegly Wigglt af-
fair had not been able to forestall to-
days pyrotechnicS. The fact that the
stock was 50 wholly unrepresentative
and that only a few unlucky specu-
lators could possibly have been af-
fected made it's influence for harm
TO the rest of the market compare
lively negligible.
Such irregularity as appeared dur
ing the afternoon would undoubtedly
have occurred under any circum-
stances. 1t was a characteristic
meeting, in which professional spec
ulators were constantly jumping
from one quarter to another. New
ertheless, whether the 50-point jump
in PiEgly Wiy-ly stock meant an
actual corner, the violent downward
plunge in the stock in the late aft
ernoon was accepted by the market
generally as a welcome incident
While Piggly Wiggly was in the
last stages of its 50-point rise opera
tions on the long side were temporar-
lily suspended. But when the Piggly
Wiggly shares dropped in the space
of half an hour from 124 to 95 1t was
accepted as evidence of the corner
being broken and the pools in special
issues got busy again.
Steel common for the first time in a
long while assumed a place of lead
ership. American Wool was bid up
hriskly and so were Vanadium and
Gulf States Steel. Southern Railway
preferred crossed 20 again and the
common stock on very heavy trading
made a new high.
Continuing their advance French
francs crossed the $50 level, where
they were up half cent from week
ago. 1t was probably right to accept
this as a true measure of banking
sentiment regarding the outlook for
a settlement of German reparations.