Evening star., 1923-07-31
LOSSES ARE HEAVY
| IN STOCK MARKET
Oils and Rails Lead Sharp
Declines in Many Parts of
Wall Street List.
by STUART T.. WEST.

Special Dispatch to The StAr.
NEW YORK, July 31.-EXtreme
weakness in the oil shares and in
some of the rails was the feature in
the market today There were no
new developments in the oil trade
situation. but speculative Wall street
felt that more liquidation in this
group of stocks remained to be done
before they could be regarded as hav-
ing discounted the consequences of
the present overproduction and the
curtailment in operations that is in
prospect.
The view taken, despite all efforts
to minimize the unpleasant aspects
of the oil situation. is that many OF
these companies cannot get through
into fair weather again without
either reducing or passing their dlVi-
dendS altogether. Today'S selling in
the oils represented the forcing out
of large blocks of SpeculatiVelY held
stock undermined by the protracted
decline. Cosden, with a break of
points, and Marland. with drop SIM
liar. were the particularly weak spots.
But other oils were pressed for sale
also at new lows for the year.
Railroad shares Also slump.
1t was no longer shares of the
OrtnweStern raliTOduS "HlcH leu the
decline in the rails. Attention was
drawn once more to the st. Paul sit
uation by the sharp break of the pre-
vious day in the company's bonds.
The fall in the long-term refundlng
bonds to almost a fiat per cent basis
was the most disturbing thing that
has happened. for it was the most
severe reflection upon the credit
standing of the road. st. Paul pre-
ferred went through IS. and the COM
mon sold down to l6, both being new
low records for 1923.
The Missouri Pacific were even
weaker than the St. Pauls. Previous
to yesterday morning the common
stock had not broken To II. Today
il dropped to 9. while the preferred
without any resistance to speak of.
yielded nearly points. Like St.
Paul, Missouri Pacific has failed to
cover fixed charges during the period
of unprecedented railway traffc
The question asked is. IT a carrier
cannot uo any better than this under
such favorable conditions, what
would it do under conditions less
favorable.
A year ago Wall street was con-
vinced that Missouri Pacific preferred
would soon go on dividend basis
and pay off it's accumulated arrears.
On this theory the stock sold as
high as sixty-three. The complete
unset as represented by the pres
X
is one OF the tragic occurrences of
the season. Missouri Pacitics June
HtatrnCnL InOHInE L 0rI OF ONIy
s4ss6s5: as against ss52 last
the days selling
sugar Shares Weaker.
Sugar stocks paid more attention
than they had yesterday to the latest
outbreak of price cutting and the
Cuban bel p
cent level. Punta Allegro made new
low for the year. and Cuban AmerI-
can common and Cuba Cane pre-
ferred were almost equally weak. The
quarterly report of United States
Steel was not published until after
the close, but the stocks was forced
down to a new low. because of the
general market unsettlement.
There was certainly nothing to
complain about in the Stude baker
figures revealing nearly $3.50 earned
on the common stock for the second
quarter and disclosing sufficient busi-
ness on the books and in sight to
keep the plants going indefinitely at
their full. Yet Studebaker stock fell
with the rest.
The report of the General Motors
Corporation for the second quarter,
expected Wednesday. will throw fur
ther light. upon highly favorable po-
sition of the large automobile manu-
facturers for the first half year.
General Motors. according to infor-
nation available today. will show a
surplus of approximately s26,000,00
after over S21,000,O00 distributed in
dividends
The fact that Baltimore and Ohio
acted so we'll fitted in with what has
been said recently regarding this car
rier. At current prices Baltimore and
Ohio is selling at little more than
half it's yearly rate of earnings, which
is estimated as high as s22 A share.
The company may place the stock on
a 81 or SIS dividend basis in the last
quarter.