The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-18
FINANCE RESPONDS FAV0RABLY ID NE M
 PRESIDENTS ACTS
Wall Street Believes Coolidge Will Follow Conservative
 Policies
By WALTER B. BROWN Editor New York Commercial
tLeaaed NVire to The Are-HernIl

NEW YORK, August 17.-This has been the first week of real business under President Coolidge. He has occupied the White House offices and has settled down in earnest to the business of running the country, the biggest job there is in the country or anywhere else for that matter. His first utterances have been awaited With widespread interest and they were not disappointing. They were a reiteration of his earlier statement that he would continue the policies of MT. Harding up to the point where conditions might force change. This was to be expected Mir. liar ding's policies were representative of the conservative thought of the American people and unless there was to be change in the direction of radicalism, these policies would have to remain unchanged MT. Cool idge is not radical. He comes from conservative Massachusetts and 1t is not likely that the fantastic schemes of LaFolette or Brookhart or snip stead or the grotesque Magnus John son will find favor in his eyes.
 Responds FavOrably.
 Wall street has responded with gradually increasing business and an upward creeping movement of prices It is time prices crept upward, They haze been below normal basis Tor too long a period. The fact cannot be overlooked, however, that there has been a falling off in new book ings with the steel companies anu that the August 3l report or the United States Steel Corporation Will show another falling off in thrilled tonnage. The prediction is made however, that succeeding reports should a swing in the other dlreelloh' Operation at all steel plants, worh- ine on old orders, are keeping them busy to the extent of SO to So per per cent of capacity. Bookings for the first two weeks in August are aDout 10 per cent heavier than for the first two weeks in July.
 One of the important incidents ol inc week has been the demorallza- ton in gasoline prices. It began py inc governor of South Dakota order ine his biehwav department to sell easoline to the public at 16 cents a gallon or about cents below the prevailing prices. What he had to offer was distress" gasoline that IS gasoline that had to be sold for what it would bring because the hold- CTS could no longer carry It.
 O o o
 Refiners Act.
 The big refining companies i'm mediately met the cut the result IS that most of them Will SulleT plS' losses on their inventories While some of the smaller companies may not be able to weather ethe storm. Every big oil company built up It's reserves early in the year to the limit of it's capacity because of the pros pects of a heavy demand. This demand anpeared in due season but the sup Div of crude, particularly from the California fields increased in greater ratio It is a result of the inevitable working of the law of supply and demand In due course when these eX- cess supplies have been absorbed prices will work back to basis where the oil companies can once more show a profit on their op- eratfons. It is of little importaee whether the decline first made it's appearance in South Dakota or else where. There was gound to be an out break somewhere along the line, It does not necessarily follow that there was bound to be an outbreak some where along the line. It does not necessarily follow that there will be any great increase in consumption because one owning motor car has had to be in prety poor ciruc- stances where the cost of fuel was deterrent from it's use and he had no business to possess one in the first place. It is simply that there is keen competition for the existing demand.