Evening star., 1924-02-04
RAILROAD SHARES
AND OILS HIGHER
u. S. Steel, Studebaker and
Baldwin Also Strong in
Final Trading.
ny STUART p. WEST.

SpeciaI Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, February 4.-ha''"a a'
shares, especially those OF the h"il'
dividend class. ana Ihe oiiS
were the two leading groups In 'he
stock market today.
The oil shares were going up pe'
cause of the remarkable session Vi
price advancements in the OIL traoe
i'm the last two months. The lower
nriced rails were in demand on tne
idea that the way earnings were run
ming now, number OF them Will NC
in line for dividends before long.
Sou,bern Railway Crosses 4s.
Southern Railway got across 40 oi
large transactions. The street 4
looking Tor ii per cent ulNluenu
but il wei aware that the compass t
could easily pay ;. Wabash pre-
ferred "A" continued to prepare 1or
the dividend list, with rise across
AZ Seahoard Air line preferred va
another favorite. There rtihainS
rer cent of back interest on the $50
board adjustment BONDS TO pe Pc, @nr
off before the way will be clear iot
tbe stock. The movement is, OF
course, highly speculative, out l.
based upon the fact that net earnings
Increased SIS Fer cent IN l?-o Over ny
wear before; that there was acsua,if
earned for Seahoard prelerfeu
uer cent, and that, under present
conditions in the south, announcer
profitable year is in prospect. ;.
The extraordinary Improvement III
1924 earnings of Wheeling ana Lake e
Erie was recognized III the rise -, -,
Wheeling STOCKS me az aoIan ,. ayi.
Texas and Pacific above 20 was tNl-
oentiy getting ready for the success
full rutting through of the reoreani
zation plan. which takes care oL ~
Missouri Pacific claim, looks out ioI
the income bonds and thus opens up
considerable possibilities tor the
innior securities Stocks of north-
western roads--Great Northern pre-
ferred. Northern Pacific. chicago anu
Northwestern and the 81. faui-"e ei {
bought on the expectation that tne
agricultural conference would resui!
for better conditions in the horth-
west.
Pure Oil IL Featured.
Along the offs Pure Oil was fea-
ture, crossing 25 for the tlrst time
This was response to the advance
of a5 cents a barrel in MeXia crude
which is the Company's principal
product. >,
or few days so far during the bull
movement have pool operations been
more aggressive. Sugar stocks were
taken UP vigorously on the advance
in the price of Cuban raw sugar tc
51a cents. The Presidents suGgeS-
tion at the agricultural conference
that financial aid be extended to the
farmers SO that they could pay Of
past Indebtedness was logically re-
flected in sharp advance in Inter
national Harvester.
Oil stocks We're bought on better
appreciation of what the recent
price increases mean to current
profits, and especially to inventory
values. In March, 1923, midcontinent
crude oil sold as high as 81 a barrel.
1t subsequently fell to 81. The pres
ent price of S1.55 to S1.65 a barrel
represents, accordingly, recovery
OF more than half the enormous de-
summer. The stronger oil companies
We're able to take advantage of the
decline to load up with what now
turns out to have been extremely
low cost raw material, and the bene-
fit which they have derived from the
price increases of the last two
months is naturally very large.
Late Prices Strongest.
New high prices for the present
movement were, reached all through
the list in the late afternoon. The
Stee1s, equipment shares and motors,
which had not been doing so much
the last day or two, became prime
favorites in the buying. The inspira-
tion for most of these advances was
professional and highly speculative.
Still they could not be set down, like
most OF the individual moves Il week
ago, to pool activities. L. S. Steel,
Studebaker and Baldwin were among
the late leaders