Evening star., 1923-09-10
GTOCKS SELL OFF
EEE sA A. WILL NE-A
/ IN LATE TRADING
Copper Shares Lead Earlier
Advances on Favorable
Rumor From Ruhr.
BY STUART p. WEST.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
/. NEW YORK, September l0.-Stocks
To-day were pursuing a rather irregu'
liar course until the report reached
sWall street toward the close OF the
Second hour that Germany had aban-
@oned her policy of passive resist
snce in the Ruhr.. Confirmation did
mot seem necessary to arouse specu-
aative interest, and the share list de-
peloped renewed activity and prices
raliied The advance was orderly,
however. and was most noticeable In
the coppers. They gained more than
a point In most instances wltnih
short time on the idea that the cop
per companies would be among tne
first to benefit.
Ccppers In Greater Demand.
Continued confidence in the money
situation and favorable trade reports
had evidently been discounted. Ihe
market absorbed with marked firm
ness what selling occurred and seem,
ed inclined to turn its face TOWARD
constructive factors.
The coppers, notably Utah, kenne-
colt, Chile. Cerro de Pasco and Ameri-
can Smelters, were in greater demand
than they had been at any time our :
ing the summer Germany. before the
W =
1t has been said all along that II this
buying power were restored 1T would
react favorabiy upon the copper com
panies.
strength on a large volume of busi-
ness was a feature. This was due TO
high earnings, the report that divi-
dend would be paid before the end OF
the year and to the advance in cot
ton prices. Other railway issues were
firm.
Can. Stocks Very Strong.
Continental Can got to another new
high and gave. evidence. of strong
support. Earnings are at the rate OF
approximately S12 a share. against
the 81 dividends. American Can also
was strong most of the time.
Oil shares as a whole held their
ground very well. with improvement
in Skelley and Cosden and a new low
for Middle States Oil. Cosden was
expected to act favorably on the divi-
dend today. while Middle States post
poned dividend action.
The street was curious to know the
origin of the heavy buying in South
ern Railway common stock and
wondered what connection 1t had
with the stories recently put out re-
garding efforts of certain interests to
acquire a control of the outstanding
stock. These interests. were credited
with the desire to force the payment
of dividends on the common in view
of the exceptionally high earnings.
which. they argued, officials were
bent upon turning back to property
improvement.
Middle States Oil TumbIes.
Middle States Oil sold down to it's
lowest for 1923 in response to- the
announcement that the directors had
decided to postpone dividends because
t1f the existing conditions in the oil
- hIy
directors that the necessity for stor-
sng oil and the idea that supplies
accumulated at current low prices
how would yield substantial profits
iater, Influenced conservative dlVi-
dend policy.
I SkeiIy Oil was inclined to recover
bore of the ground lost in the general
E,cline of the oil shares few months
& o, and whether the buying was due
: short covering or TO accumulation
the current low levels. of the oils
generally. it was significant.
( Sugar Stocks Score Gains.
Z Little attempt has been made re-
GENTLY to quicken speculative enthu-
slams regarding the shares of the
Cuban sugar producing companies.
Today during the periods of strength
in the general market the sugars such
as Cuban-American, Cuba Cane pre-
ferred and Punta Allegro gained mod
erately, but their action was not at
all impressive. The demand for re-
fined sugar has increased in the past
ten days and raws have been firmer.
Improvement is looked for and the
street has shown slightly more inter-
est in this group of stocks
Declines in Late Trading.
I Midway through the afternoon fol-
towing a brief .spurt of buying, the
market quieted down again with
fractional recessions in the more
active industrials. The advance took
tl1- some of the steelS, motors and a
number of miscellaneous speculative
Havorites. = Baldwin - Locomotive,
Etudebaker, American Can and United
States Steel common all bettered
Sheir final prices Of Saturday, but fell
short of the top prices reached last
Eeek.
Immediately after the announce
ment of the tonnage figures Steel
Common advanced, we'll above Satur-
days closing figure.
= Announcement that the government
September financing would take the
form of a S200.000,000 issue of six
months certificate of Indebtedness
bearing interest at Az per cent was
not unexpected and has comparatively
little effect on the markets.
1t was simply an indication that
the government had not found Il
necessary or expedient to offer a long
term issue at this time. The short
term obligations naturally are of
more interest to banks than to in
dividual investors.