The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-01-31
RECOVER|ES SHOW
BETTERMENT FOR
FEBRUARY LIKELY
Movements of Past Week
Failed to Impress
Traders.
By Elmer c. Waller


list on Saturday gave indication that
something better could be expected
from the market in the coming
month. Movements in the past week
failed to produce much impression
on The trading community and
changes of most issues were mar
row and downward.
When Wheeling & Lake Erie
quieted down to routine operations
the remainder of the market perked
up. Wheeling gained 1115 points
in the past six days, the best adj
vance in the list. 1t ranged between
| 1872 and 65, new high, and closed
at 60. The preferred stock lost 31a
points, incidentally also making a
new high record at 50.
Traders were hartened when the
old leaders-United States Steel and
General Motors-came to the front
again on Saturday, the former slim
ulated by it's excellent earnings state
ment for the last quarter of 1926 and
the latter by an estimate by Du-
! pont Company that it would earn
! S21.50 a share on common stock.
Steel, after reaching a new low for
the year at 1884,, snapped back to
1856, a loss for the week Of only T.
point while Motors reached a new
high for the year and closed with
gain Of points.
Rails Mixed
Railroad stocks were mixed all
week, Van Sweringen Rails coming
in for heavy selling at one time. c.
& o. was depressed sharply. but re-
covered part of it's loss, closing with
a recession of 3H points. Nickel
| Plate lost . points while Pere Mar
quette was up 2, and Erie / %. Pitts
burgh & West Virginia gained 3B,
while Lehigh Valley lost 5H. De-
partment Stores were lower, heavy
losses being sustained by Macy and
Company, Kresge Department Stores,
National Department Stores. Some
Of the Motor shares shot forward,
notably Mack Trucks and Hudson
while Nash dropped 29s for the
week. Tobacco shares were lower at
the end of the week.
/ Several specialties scored excellent
gains, American Republics reaching
a new high for the year and making
a gain Of IA points for the week.
Amusement shares were in demand,
Lows rising AIS and Warner
Brothers pictures A "a. Thinker
roller bearing gained 39s, Remington
typewriter ga, and Continental
Baking A, 4 points. On the other
hand, Burns Brothers A was down
points, Consolidated Gas 5X, and
Superior Steel Az.
Mixed Movements
These mixed movements charac-
terized the stock market activity the
entire month Of January. The mar
ket got nowhere, as is usual at this
time of the year. What will it do i'll
February? Just now prospects seem
bright for a better state of affairs.
Business is picking up despite spot
tiness in some quarters. Steel bust
ness IS picking up, though prices are
| somewhat lower. That barometer
which seldom fails-car loadings-is
higher than last wear, and invest
ment demand and money conditions
continue to equal the best expecta-
| tons.
Incidentally the month of January,
without counting today, has set a
new record for a single months new
financing. Already more than six
| hundred million dollars of new bonds
have been sold and more looked for.
A voracious appetite whetted by al
most unlimited funds seems to grip
the investment market. Bond prices
are around the highest levels they
have ever attained and volume of
business in this market is gathering
momentum daily TO the despair of
organizations furnishing quotations
by telegraph. The number of issues
brought out daily runs nearly to
seven hundred and the sales volume
hovers around nineteen million dol
lars daily, par value.
Two Events
There are two important events
slated for the coming week, the
outstanding one being the prospect
of a cut in the local rediscount rate.
At present the New York bank
rate is 4 per cent for rediscoounts.
Should the New York Federal Re
serve Board see fit to reduce this
to 3l5 at the meeting on Thursday
an unprecedented wave of stock
market speculation should cerainly
follow. That this will be done is
now almost certain because of the
continued ease of money. Call funds
during the last week held at 4 per
cent though this rate was shaded
in the outside market.
Commodity prices in the last week
of January made little real change.
Wheat was higher, as were other
cereals on the Chicago Board of
Trade and other grain markets. Cot
ton prices held up we'll and prom
| ised better market conditions in the
coming week.
Foreign exchange quotations are
moving in a very small range since
most of the European currencies
seem pegged, the greater number
being stabilized on a gold parity.
More French gold came to the New
York market and the French francs
held around the Accent level. A sharp
rise in silver gave impetus to an
advance in Chinese money, while
Spanish pesetas, which it is expect
ed will soon be stabilizing at gold
parity, rose to the highest point
they have. reached in the last six
years.