Evening star., 1926-12-27
OPTIMISM BOOSTS
STOCK LIST TODAY
Oils Are Responsive to Bright
Views Held by Leaders
of the Industry.
BY STUART p. WEST.

Special Dispatch TO Inc Staf'
NEW YORK, December 2I.-Ine
note of optimism prevalent IN the
stock market previous to the Cnrist
mas holiday was again IN eViueIics
.s trading was resumed at the begln'
ming of the last week in 1926. Specu.
latiye sentiment has not been anecteu
nv the hardening tendency or the
call loan market, as this was nat
ural development preparatory TO Win
,lrawal of funds for other than STOCK
market purposes at the year END.
The oil shares responded to the
favorable statements by ofnclals OF
the industry on what might be expect
ed in the industry in 1927. Pan-Amer'
lean issues were in urgent demand
Royal Dutch bore its share in the re
newed demand and there was special
strength in General Asphalt, Phillips
Petroleum. Sinclair Consolidated and
The Standard Oil issues. Atlantic Re-
timing had the added incentive of the
possibility of a merger with the Union
Oil of California and was taken at
an advance of a point or more.
Shortly after the first hour of trad
ing United States Steel common, above
100. was within fraction of its high
record for all time, while Sloss-Shef-
Alield led the independents with rise
of points before the demand sub
sided.
Other steel shares were somewhat
more active, but at prices only slight
" changed from last weeks final.
Industrials of the speciality type
which were brought to the front and
bid up into new high ground for the
wear included Union Carbide and Car
bon, julius Kayser, which was still
responding to the recent favorable
dividend action, and Eastman Kodak,
although improvement in the last
named was not as pronounced as 1t
had been at times last week. The an
nouncement concerning the newly dis
covered distillation process by Inter
national Combustion chemists provid-
ed the incentive for a further sharp
upward movement in the market for
the stock.
General Motors, above 100, was 2
points higher, but the outstanding
incident in the trading in motor
shares was the urgent demand for
Yellow Truck and Coach which car
ried the price up sharply on an enor
NOUS turnover. Strength of this
issue communicated itself to the
market for White Motors and Mack
Trucks, both of which were substan-
TALLY higher. Although nothing Off
cial has come to hand concerning
merger developments involving sew
eral of the motor truck manufac-
turers, Wall Street continued to place
credence in these reports.
Railway shares were not as promi
nent in the upward movement as they
have been heretofore, but there was
no weakness. Atchison was taken at
higher prices, but was still some dis
ffc TN1@{n fI.ef
preferred gained fractionally following
publication of the November traffic
statement which disclosed a surplus
for the month of $2,130, 900 compared
with a deficit of $59,376 in November
1925. Southern Railway continued to
work fractionally higher and the de-
mand for some of the Northwestern
carriers resulted in slight gains.
There was little of interest in the
financial situation today outside of
the stock market. Money renewed
at 512 per cent, which was the same
as the rate for new loans on Friday
Time funds continued dull and un
changed. For longer than 80 days
accommodation was offered st 4&
per cent. Bankers do not expect the
present hardening to be anything but
temporary. Trading in bonds quieted
down and transactions were smaller
in volume than at any time in recent
sessions. Investment issues sagged
a trifie, but some of the foreign bonds,
notably the French, were higher.
In the exchanges French francs
were off fractionally. There IS as yet
no information as to the ultimate in.
1ention of the French government re.
garding stabilization, but this much
is plain, that the defiation process will
not be allowed to go to extremes, and
that French business will have time
to adjust itself before the franc is
allowed to go higher. Italian lire
were up point or so, while Belgian
bills came off about as much.
The first 20 railroads to report for
November. showed net operating in.
come at one-sixth of / per cent, com.
pared with the same month a year
ago. Today's reports were mixed, the
Z coal roads as rule showing gains
while among the others Atchison was
conspicuous with a large increase
in gross and smaller in net.