Evening star., 1924-07-16
MORE RAIL SHARES
AT RECORD MARKS
Speculative CIiques in Con-
troll of Market - Oils Are
Weak on SincIair's Action.
BY STUART p. WEST.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special Dlspatch TO the star.
NEW YORK, July 16.-Today'
price movement on the Stock Ex
change was mixed and in the manne
in which attention was focused upoi
first one group of stocks afte
another 1t was evident that th
rather rapid changes were the Sworl
of strong speculative cliques, Th
buying wave which swept over th'
railway shares at one stage, carry
ing a number of the high grade is
sues to their highest levels of the year
the pressure against the steels which
forced United States Steel common be
low par and the independents dowr
even more, and the upbidding of th'
marine shares were characteristic o
the current opinion in Wall street.
Market Thin In Spots.
During the greater part of the da!
the market was thin in spots and i
was not difficult to give an appear
ance of weakness.
The number of high-grade railwa!
shares to advance to the best price
of the year was Increased today
more & Ohio. Atchison, Southern
Pacific and Illinois Central were il
this class. At the same time New
York Central got to the highest o
the season, and Chesapeake & Ohi'
and Norfolk & Western were also con
SpicuouSly strong.
While the rails of this type wer
approaching their high points in tn
recent market, medium and loV
priced rails were distinguishing
themselves. When the first ran, ran,
int O
ground today their performance wa
especially notable, and was receive
in the Street as further proof OF tn
improved conditions in railwa!
affairs and the better feeling to
ward railway securities.
Other Rail Shares Strong.
Other rails to. give. a good &C.
count of themselves included Ne"
Haven and the Wheeling and Lak'
Erie issues. These stocks touched
new highs for 1924. Wabash pre-
ferred "a" also was in demand abov'
As, while the Erie issues were activ'
around their best prices for the year
ties, and a new rumor was heard
1t was reported that New England in
terests were discussing the likelihood
of the Pennsylvania acquiring tn
New Haven.
Except for the statement in tn
Iron Age midweek review, that ell
no measurable degree has the situa
tion in respect to railroad, structura
or automobile demand shown turn,
there was nothing in the news of tn
steel trade upon which to pin tn
selling that occurred in the stee
stocks Bethlehem Steel was par
ticularly weak, getting down to
new low, but in this case the divi
dend is believed in danger. Gul
States. Republic and Crucible; tn
last named selling ex-dividend, al
fell back quite sharply for time
and United States Steel common go
below par.
Exchanges Recover.
Foreign exchanges recovered fror
Tuesdays depression, but were no
quite as strong as on Monday. Evi
IDENTIFY more hopeful view wa
taken of the possibilities of a sue
cessful conclusion to the interall1e
conference in London. Bonds wer
decidedly higher.
Within a week crude oil in the mid
continent field has been cut at leas
25 cents a barrel. In addition, gaso
line prices have been slashed all owe
the country. Today the Sinclair Con
solidated passed it's quarterly SO cen
dividend on the common stock. whic
had been expected. However, Sin
clair sold down to new low afte
the dividend action. Except for anothe
sharp. break in Atlantic Refining to 1t
lowest level, the losses were not at al
impressive.