Evening star., 1923-02-28
VERY HEAVY BUYING
IN SPECIAL STOCKS
Strong Upward Trend
Shown in Market as Pools
Rush Prices Higher.
BY STUART p. WEST.

Epecial Dispa ten to The Star.
NEW YORK, February 2s.-Today
market was another collection of moves
dn special stocks. most of them upward
In the majority of cases the advance
represented operations by pools formed
10 exploit a favorable earnings position
and the possibility of increased divi
oends.
American Woolen made new high
anticipating satisfactory showing il
The 1922 report, plus a highly favorable
picture of the business prospects fol
1925. The annual statement of Ameri
can Hide and Leather, showing a sur
plus of over IS share for the preferred
atoch. was better than the street hat
expected, and, taken in conjunction
with the further Improvement i'll tn,
leather trade since the first of the new
year, led to talk of an early resumption
uf dividends. Hide preferred ran VI
sharply on this.
Locomotive Stocks Strong.
Baldwin Locomotive easily regainet
is loss of the previous days. ant
Lima Locomotive sold above 20 again
The sugars did better. rejecting con-
fdence that the recent check to the
rise in sugar prices was nothing seri.
and California Petroleum was again
in demand. The preferred sock OF
the latter company crossed par fol
the first time on buying inspired by
the reasoning that it was out of line
with other industrial preferred shares
with similar earning power and asset
value.
The copper group as whole was
helped bv the Anaconda dividend. al
though the imtn nedia,e effect on Ana
r.AH
time being to have been discounted.
Review and Outlook.
After four days of hesitatioIi> ant
partial reaction on the stock eX.
change operations for the rise were
resum ed today. The advance was b!
no means general ard in a large par
nf the list was paratively uninl
, portant. But the main thing was tina
the principal movements were nearly
all upward.
Undoubtedly the fact that the cal
none" market was not sensitive tC
the increase in federal reserve dis
counts a week ago. but that. on the
contrary. rates have come down sine,
then. was encouraging to the man.
ayers of speculative syndicateS. A
the same time there had been u gooC
deal of fresh selling for short account
and the driving in of these sellers
was one of the objectives in the trad.
ing of the day.
The stock market was more inter
esting than any Of the other markets
In fact very little happened outside
the stock exchange. Cotton prices
went somewhat higher again. the
gDlin market did little. the foreign
exchanges were trifle lower. But
none of these markets moved enough
TO denote any change in their under
lying conditions.
Sterling was of , cents in the
pound from it's extreme high of g
fortnight ago and the uncertainty
felt as to the issue in the Ruhr was
sill indicated by the quota tions OF
french francs, which We're only e oi
cent above their lowest for al
times. German marks were shade
higher.
Rail Shares Rather Dull.
Once again it was rather striking
that the stock market should have
devoted itself SO largely to the in.
dustrial section when the January
railway statement continued to make
such impressive comparisons with the
month year ago. There were one
or two exceptions among these traffic
reports notably the New Haven anG
the Delaware and Hudson. both oil
which operated in January at loss
The explanation in New Haven's case
lay clearly enough in its inability to
effect settlement with the striking
shopmen, while Delaware and Hud-
son apparently has not been able to
absorb the coal strike losses with
the same readiness that have other
coal-carrying roads.
Coprers Go Higher.
The street took the view today thai
II was the possibility of further divi.
dend announcements in the copper
group rather than the current quota
tons on copper metal which had the
most to do with the continued
strength of the stocks. This opinion
appeared to be borne out by the ac-
tion of few of the leaders-notably
kennecott. Utah and Cerre De Pasco
which are expected either to in
crease their dividends or go Oh the
dividend list in the near future.
Alkali Company Will be out probably
on Thursday. and the good showing
it is said to make. was the cause OF
todays squirt in Alkali stock. The
figures will show little over ST. d
snare. while the current rate of net
profit approximates s11 share.
More attention was. paid to Phila-
delphia Company today, and 1t was
said that the strength in the stock
was due to more than a favorable
earnings situation.
Highest Prices Near Close.
The high prices of the day as u rule
We're reached in the final hour. The
jump in Republic Steel across 60 was
attributed to the activities of the re-
Gently formed pool working on the
strength of estimates that earnings
for the first quarter will be as high
rs S5 a share on the common. stock
Bethlehem Steel B got across 67 fol
the first time in a long while.
The way American Can moved aheaC
reminded Wall street professionals OF
tthe action of Corn Products when il
was selling at the same prices. Ii
has been understood for some time
that many of the same people who
made the big profits in Corn Products
had gone into American Can. believ-
ing that the latter was in much the
same position as the former