Evening star., 1925-12-27
WALL STREET STOCKS SMASH
ALL RECORDS DURING YEAR
Volume of Sales and Averages at New High Points.
Cheap Credit and Gold Vital Factors-Great
Improvement Abroad.

filled >rders of the United States
Stee> Corporation increased rapidly in
th/ closing months of the year, re-
CIlling the prophecy of Chairman
Gary at the annual meeting of the
American Iron and Steel institute in
October. that steel compa MES would
be turning away business next
wear" United States Steel common
touched 1891. the highest price ever
recorded. Sloss Sheffield was the out
standing strong spot among the in
dependents, rising from sol. to l43i2
during the course of the year.
Motor Shares Soar.
TIL" Unexpectedly large demand for
automobiles, which started early in
the year and continued through the
Summer and Fall months. was re.
t1ectcd in the sensational advances in
the shares of motor compa MES. sew
eral of which showed record breaking
earnings.
Shares of the CRrysIer Corporation.
which sold as low as II two years
ago under the old name of Maxwell.
touched the record high price of 253
before any dividend had been paid on
the stock.
General Motors. which paid s12 in
cash dividends during the calendar
y Ntdl lOSt II OH O4'S To JS5"4- anu
Hudson from 332. to 13912. Truck
companies also benefited from the
unusually rapid development of the
truck and bus business. Mack Trucks
moving up from III to 242.
Oils Gather Strength.
oils, which have been adversely af-
frcted in the last few wears by the
menace of overproduction. gathered
/, 4. l..
improvement in the industry was re-
t'eCtcd by the raising of dividend pay
ments on the common stocks of the
Marland. Phillips. General Petroleum,
Shell Union and Associated Oil Com
panies. The enormous demand for
copper by the public utilities com
panies was an important factor in
the Improvement shown by the cop
per stocks, the American Smelter and
Refining Co. raising its annual rate
from Sc to s.. Utah Copper from 81
10 s.. and the Cerro de PascO Co. de
claring an extra payment of 81.
While II . advance in all groups was
not uniform. strong undertone was
apparent in the chain store. merchan-
disinc. tobacco. chemical and amuse-
ment shares. Sensations advances of
he electrical refrigeration issues re
fiected the rapid growth OF that in
dustry. With the exception of those
engaged in the manufacture Of auto
matte signal devices, stocks of equip.
ment companies did not fare so well.
although an advance in those shares
aS the Year closed coincided with the
placing of large railroad orders for
early 1926 delivery.
Strong and Weak spots
Fluctuations in the public utility
shares narrowed down considera bly,.
but some substantial gains were re.
| corded, particularly by the securities
| created in connection with super
power projects. The gradual recovery
Of the packing and leather industries
| from the effects of postwar depres.
sion was mirrored by the improvement
shown in those shares.
The only important groups which
tailed 10 share extensively in the gen
eral prosperity were the radio, textile
md sugar stocks. Radio shares suf
Tered from the effects of overproduc-
tion and price cutting. which followed
| the pitalizat ton of many of
| those issues in the excited speculative
| movement last Spring.
| Weakness OF the textile issues was
natural result of poor trade COndi
tions which led to several failures and
The passing Of dividends by ma ny com.
panieS. some of which had enjoyed a
long record of uninterrupted payments
Shares of producing Compa MES
were weak because of the extremely
| low prices obtained for the raw Cuba II
and American product a : result of
European competition.