San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-28
PRICE TREND
. |RREGULAR0N
BOND MARKET
High Grade Investment Sc
curities Strong and
Higher.
u. S. LOANS ADVANCE
Oil, Copper, Tire and
Leather Shares Break
Sharply.
u. S. LOANS ADVANCE
BY. BYRON SELLER

Copyright. by The San Antonio Light.
New York, Oct. 27.-Moving with
out uniformity, the security markets OF
the week have thrown little light upon
either the future If trade or of prices.
Investment bonds of the first grade.
about the quality of which there
could be no possible doubt. have been
strong. This is undoubtedly the case
with United States government loans.
OF course here there are special rea-
sons for the strength. notably the sup
port OF purchases for the treasury
sinking fund and possibly for the ac-
count for the British government as
well. the latter being connected with
the next payment of interest on the
international debt of Great Britain to
the United States.
Under the funding agreement. Lib
erty bonds are taken at par tor the
purpose of these interest remittances.
These reasons aside however. it is fair
to assume that Liberty bonds have
been sharing the improvement dis
plaTel by the high grade rails and
industrials. All this is in accord
with precedent that. when money is
easy and there is uncertainty about
business. it is in only the Kinds of
the timid.
Copper Shares Drop.
On the other hand there have been
sharp breaks in certain securities.
both stocks and bonds, where there has
been doubt about either the particular
corporation involved, or about the IN
dustry in which it is chiefly engaged.
Instances are the oil. copper, rubber
and leather trades. The oil situation is
well known. Production continues TO
exceed consumption. There has been
great depression in the market for cop
per. Wall street sentiment as TO the
rubber and tire outlook is still pes
simistic. Finally. one of the largest
leather manufacturing compa les made
a very disappointing report this week.
Shares of the corporations engaged
in these and kindred lines of activity
suffered accordingly.
OF equal interest was the sudden
and violent decline in both bonds
and stock of one or two railroads.
with marked heaviness in others. In
no case were there any new facts
about the carriers involved. nor was
the general railroad situation any
worse. In fact. if anything, it is
better as even the roads, the securi-
ties of which sustained the greatest
losses. report earnings far ahead Of
the corresponding period of year
ago.
Motor Stocks Strong.
Ii is, of course. matter OF per-
sonal opinion just WHEEL railroad shares
will have discounted the unIavvIaDle
features of the situation. st. Paul
has shown marked recovery in earn
ing power this year. 1t still has TO
face IL large rcfunding operation some
two years hence. The Northern Pa
cific and the Great Northern. earn
ings of which have fallen off, have
no near maturitics to meet. And. it
is not to be expected that agricultural
depression there will continue indefi-
nitely. Undoubtedly these will be traf-
fic enough for all three eventually.
1t would give false impression to
dwell upon these weak spots in the
security markets without pointing out
the remarkable resistance to selnng
pressure shown elsewhere in the list.
Steel, equipment, autombile and utIiuy
shares have been only slightly af-
fectcd Perhaps this is more re-
markable in the case of motor stocks
than anywhere else in view of the
exaggerated pessimism with which pro-
fessional Wall street processes to view
the immediate future of the automo-
bile industry.
Notwithstanding all the talk about
Ovcr-productiOn. intense competition
and the approach of the so-called sat
uration point, automobile stocks this
week seemed to have balanced the
risk with the return on the fn,.st-
ment. The automobile business has
confound the prophets so often that
it takes more than ordinary as
surance TO set limit TO its expan-
sion.
Foreign News Ignored.
. The most important development of
the week was the publication of the
correspondence between the United
States and Great Britain relative to
the European situation as a whole.
and to the Preparations problem in
particular. Taken as an indication
of a willingness on the part of the
United States TO extend helping hand,
it was highly encouraging.
There can be no disputing the prop
osition that our own industrial ard
economic fabric is closely interwor.Sl
with European affairs. And yet, the
markets. with the exception of the
foreign exchanges, paid little attention
to the news. 1t may be that this APP
parent Indifference is due TO the diff
ficulty of .oreseeing just what will
be the next step. 1t is more probable
that the buyers and sellers. whose
operations control our markets. have
so long been absorbed in considera-
ton of domestic trade and industry
that it has become a habit to ignore
affairs abroad
For the present. attention is con-
centrated upon conditions at home.
and most important of these is the
attitude of the ultimate consumer.
Perhaps this is best illustrated in the
matter of cotton and cotton goods. The
supply is admittedly short. the price
of the raw material is at its high
point but the manufacturing con-
sumer is not going ahead any faster
than he feels reasonably sure the re-
tail trade will allow. In a sense it
p,ox ha rarorInI