Evening star., 1923-04-20
SUGAR STOCKS GAIN.
I'm TRADING TODAY.
Rally With Rest of List as
Shock of Government
Action Subsidies.
BY STUART y. WEST.
.nnnial nisnaich 10 The stan

by STUART p. WEST.
Special Dispatch to The stan
NEW YORK, AprQ 20.-The prln-
cipal topic of discussion around the
street this morning was the statement
given out by one of the best known
Wall street operators, warning the
public that business expansion was
approaching thy, danger stage ana
making much of the large issue of
new securities during the last hfteen
months.
Many saw in this evidence OF an
opposition Qs4rty and the possible oe-
beginnings OF q bear campaign. But in
quarters which have been optlmlsuc
at least Degrading the nearer future
of the stock market, confidence was
undiminisshed, and this showed IN the
promptness with which. as the day
went o,l. the early losses were cut
down.
Rally in Sugar Stocks.
Sugar stocks during the first hour
lost another point or more ana were
off to 3 points from the hlen ol
Thursday, but they were as quick 70
rally as the average. Evidently tne
controlling interests IN the CorI u
Products market were not afraid OF
the governments attack upon sugar
prices, for this was one OF the lead-
ers of the recovery which set In after
the decline of the first hour.
The nrincipal bull argument on
Corn Products has been that the rise
in sugar will increase the demand for
sugar substitutes, and this argument
would, of course. disappear If the
government were able to estabilsh
it's contention that the advance mas
been artificial
Among the rails special buying ap-
peared in Reading. The matter OF
the segregation plan. 1t is now init
mated. will be disposed of before the
circuit court in Philadelphia recesSes
for the summer This quite possibly
was the motive back of the buying.
The cut of cent gallon in Raso-
line prices caused some selling OF the
oils, but these stocks were no more
sensitive than any others
Todny's Financial Review.
There were three distinct influences
IN the markets today.
One was the further consideration OF
the governments astonishing action
in the sugar case. Another was
reduction of refined oil. initiated by
the Standard of New Jersey and i'm
mediately followed by number of
competitors. Third was the attention
called to the rapid pace of business
movements as brought out by the
completed figures for March. and the
modify prices cannot go ahead much
from the present level without in
viting unpleasant consequences.
Special buying came into lnterna-
tional Cement again t00ay In an
ticipation of the forthcoming state
ment Of earnings for the first quar-
ter Although the actual figures are
rot available now, it is underStoo'i
that the ret will be approximately
90 per cent larger than for The first
no nf
quarter. it is said. marks a -Hcord
In the company's volume of business.
Sugar Developments.
Some further decline occurred in
speculative sugar options q trans
actions in the actual sugar were re-
rorted at somewhat lower figures.
But the decEne in Cuban raws. as
suit, has been trifling: it has airount-
I'd to only quarter cent on the
pound. This is sufficient indication
of what the sugar trade thinks
about the government attack and the
claim that the recent rise has been
artificial.
An interesting contribution in the
news of the day was the report that
Czechoslovakia, which normally ships
out between 100000 and 100000 tons a
wear, has prohibited exports alto
gether. This is a development which
bears directly upon the question of
, world demand and supply as 1t has
= altered since the outset Of the year
At the same time four more Cuban
grinding mills were heard from with
their completed results. and only one
out of the four equaled the estimates
included in the maximum prediction
of a 0.000-ton crop which refining
interests have sponsored, and which
Washington apparently Is counting
upon.
Cause of Gasoline Cut.
The reduction in gasoline was the
natural sequel to the recent cut in
crude oil prices and the overproduc-
ton in California which has made It
possible for eastern refiners to Sc
cure a supply of cheap raw material
by sea. There was nothing really
new in the business situation itself
to bring up the question of possible
overexpansion any more forcibly than
for the past month.
The Department of Commerce fig
ureS published this morning bear out
what was already known that March
production in some lines like cotton
and pig iron broke all records and
in other lines closely approached the
peak Of three years ago. The es-
sential point of difference, however,
was stressed that prices had not fol-
lowed production the way they did in
1920 and that the wholesale average
is still 50 per cent under what it was
at the height Of the inf1ationary era.
The rally which set in toward mid
day soon flattened out In the after
noon what looked to be concerted
bear attack started the market down.
ward again and a good deal of real
stock was forced out on stop orders.
There was much loose talk about
the Oil trades having reached the
peak and being on the downward
grade. This was the pretext given for
the selling in this quarter. Houston
Oil broke the most violently of the
lot, but selling was heavy in Mar
land, Producers and Refiners and
General Asphalt.
Steel common broke through the
, 106 level, at which there had seemed
to- large supporting orders. Baldwin
Locomotive came off easily. but
Studebaker was rather better taken
than most similar issues. on account
of the expectation of an extra
dividend of so cents share at the
next meeting.
The whole point about the stock
market of the day was that this CON-
bination of Incidents was sufficient
to undermine the better sentiment in
speculative circles which had appear
ed earlier in the week. The stage
had been set for the powerful drive
against the share list and it was put
through with considerable degree of
success.
All classes of stocks were affected,
hut the largest declines occurred in
the oils. equipments and specialties, in
which DOOlS have been active