Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-02-22
R. R. VALUATION
DECISION HITS
STOCK MARKET
stock Market Average

NEW YORK, Feb 21 R-Speculation
for the advance received sharp jolt
in today's stock market when a de-
cision of the United States supreme
court in favor of the interstate COM
merce commission in a railroad valua-
tion case started an avalanche of SELL
ing orders which carried prices down
2 to nearly IL points in the space of
half an hour. Publication of an alb
stract of the decision indicating that
the railroad still had the right to
protest the methods used by the I. c.
c. when the valuation fixed by them
was used for some improper purpose
by the commission brought about a
swift recovery in which large per-
centage of the early losses were re-
covered. Final quotations were ir-
regular.
Trading was fairly quiet all through
the morning as was to be expected
of a session sandwiched in between
two holidays. Such offerings as ap-
peared were fairly well absorbed and
by early afternoon the market ap-
peared to be headed upward under the
leadership of few industrials and the
western rails. The break came around
3 p. m. and occurred with such startl-
ing suddenness that Reading, for in
stance, which had touched 111A was
selling at SO on the floor when the
tape was carrying the price downward
around 106 Likewise the stock had
rallied back to 1OS by the time the
recovery had reached 103 on the tape
Hundreds of stop loss orders had been
touched off wiping out a number OF
weakened marginal accounts.
Despite an apparent increase in pub
lie participation last week brokers'
loans dropped nearly $2,00O,000, the
total of $2,718,634,OOO comparing with
year. Stiffening of copper prices, after
long period of softness, was hailed
as bullish development,Sb but had little
influence on the price of copper stocks
Call money was in plentiful supply at
4 per cent, despite the sharp deficit
in reserve shown in last Saturday
clearing house statement and there
was no change in time money and COM
mercial paper rates.
Trapped shorts in Baldwin were
squeezed again when that stock was
bid up over points to a new record
high at 1871, closing a point below
the top. New high records for 1926
or longer, some of them the highest
in two decades, were recorded by
American Telephone, Loews, Union
Carbide, Skelly Oil, the three Wilson
company issues, National Cloak and
Suit, Purity Baking A and B., Canadian
Pacific and Rock Island
The break in the rails was started
by floor traders. Kansas City South
ern broke from 52B to 43 and rallied
to 40; Atchison from 17O% to 165, and
back to 16SS.
Atlantic Coast Line from 1S5 to
184A, Lehigh Valley from 123h to
119, and back to 1205s; New York
Central from 146 to 14O p and thence
to 143; Nickel Plate from 1878 to 100
and back to 1874. In the Industrial
group moderate recessions were record
ed by American Agricultural Chemical
preferred, All American Cables, Bur-
roughs Adding Machine, Continental
Baking A and Radio. At the close OF
the market tonight the average of 20
leading industrials, due largely to the
sharp gain in Baldwin, one of the
stocks used in the compilation, had
established a new high record for all
time at 1897, exceeding the previous
record of last December by the fraction
of a point.
Commodity prices were mixed wheat
futures yielded fractionally on the pre-
diction of a Chicago operator that
dollar wheat" was again possibility.
Cotton sagged to 10 points. Raw
sugar was unchanged but coffee prices
rallied II to 32 points.
Foreign exchanges were easier, de-
mand sterling was quoted around
s4S45s. and French francs around
1871 cents.
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