Evening star., 1923-03-15
PRICES OF STOCKS
GO STILL HIGHER
Sugars and Oils Are Especial.
. Iy Active-Studebaker
i Crosses 126-Notes.
BY STUART r. WEST.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK March 15.-During the
greater part of today's stock trading,
operations for the rise kept on with
out signs of a halt. Again it was a
case of bidding up one stock after
another and permitting little or no
reaction.
Some of the sugar stocks made new
highs. following a further slight rise
in the price of raw sugar. Punta
Allegro crossed sc, and there was eX-
ceptional activity at higher prices in
cuban Dominican sugar. The strong
point made in favor of the latter
stock is that the syndicate which
took over the constituent properties
and organized the Cuban Dominican
company is said to have paid $50 for
its stock. which is a little more than
double the present market price.
Other OIL shares Strong.
Among the oil shares Maryland
crossed As for the first time, and Sim
clair was bid up on large transactions
appeared for the Sinclair move except
that the stock has long been neg
lected. waiting for its market spon-
sors to get busy. Apparently they
decided that the time was ripe today.
Among the public utilities the fea-
lures were Columbia Gas and Brook
lyn Edison. 1t is now expected that
The new Columbia Gas stock will pay
So dividends, making the present
stock a So dividend payer.
Studebaker crossed 1875 on con-
tinuance of the new campaign which
got under way at the beginning OF
the week. the keynote of which is the
present record-breaking earnings and
the anticipa ton of another extra divi-
dend next month.
Standard Oil of California hrOk q
sharply on the announcement that a
million new shares were to be offered
to stockholders for the purpose of
taking care of increased production.
Today's Financial Review.
In the Wall street situation there
was very little change today. While
business on the stock exchange was
not as active and price changes were
more irregular, the main movements
wore again upward.
The most important occurrences OF
the day. so far as they bore upon gen
eral outlook. were those in the for
"fgn exchange markets. French
francs rose sharply out of the rut in
which they had been moving for near
~ fortnight, comp letting gain of
one fourth cent within the last two
days. This. of course, was the re-
Sponse to the news dispatches-albeit
these await confirmation-that Ger
many is making overtures through
neutral countries LOOKING IO"dTu q
settlement of the reparationS queS-
tion and the ending of the struggle
in the Ruhr.
Sterling Exchange Lower.
While francs were going up ster-
ling was coming down. Rates at one
time were off nearly cents in the
pound from their recent high. Their
decline coincided with the official an
nouncement from the Treasury De-
Iartment that Great Britain had
made the initial payment of S4,00O,00C
on the American war debt. 1nasmuch
a* this has involved offerings OF
sterling bills here to offset purchases
Of dollars in London. the nearer the
pound was to dollar parity the better
it was from the British standpoint.
Herein lies the inspiration for the
statement made some time ago. and
not denied, that the British govern
ment was doing all it could to help
along the forces back of sterling's
advance. If this were so the sterling
market would have naturally receded
when the immediate necessity for
holding up rates was over. In other
words. it would have acted precisely
as it has during the last few days.
Jewel Tea Stocks Up.
The reason for the strength in
Jewel Tea stocks today in face of the
poor 1922 income statement was that
The company is expected to resume
The rate on this stock until October
1919. was per cent annually. The
1922 report showed only s152.000 ap-
plicable to dividends, as against $780,
zoo in 1921. but the financial position
of the company was shown to be un-
inpa ired. and present earnings are
said to be quite favorable.
Considering the shortneSs of month
February's total of $310,000,000 in our
merchandise exports doesn't compare
unfavorably with other months. 1t
is below, of course, the record of last
autumn-the period of maximum
grain and cotton shipments-but the
falling off is merely seasonal. The
main point is that last months out
ward movement ran s60.000,000 ahead
of the same month year ago.
Prices Lower at Close.
The stock market slowed down con-
siderably in the afternoon. A few
industrial specialties were pushed
ahead again, but in the main body of
stocks realizing sales made them
selves felt and prices came down. The
final net changes were very much
mixed.
Railway equipment stocks were
heavy again as they had been We'd
mesday on reports that there was al
least a temporary lull in the buying
of cars and locomotives. Industrial
Alcohol was pushed forward to a
and Marland Oil, Bosch Magnetic, AS
Sociated Dry Goods and one or two
other specialtieS made their best
prices in the first hour. But they
were exceptions. The general lis,
was very irregular in the late trad
ing.