Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-25
GENERAL MOTORS
MARKET LEADER
Du Pont and Nash Also Show
Gains. Some Shares In
y CIined to Drop.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, February 25.-Opera
tons for the rise made further prog
ress on the Stock Exchange today
The upward movement. however. was
by no means general, many sections OF
he list being inclined to drag, while
ssues selected for leadership were
giving the best account of themselves
hey have at any time during the
present campaign for higher prices.
General Motors furnished one of the
outstanding features and reached a
new high for the year. Its strength
Jailed to revive an active demand for
motor stocks as a whole, but it car.
-ied with it du Pont and Nash, which
we're conceded to be in a position to
respond to further buying.
The early strength of Mack Trucks
carried it to a new top for the year,
hut profit-taking was encountered II
The afternoon. Ii was evident that
he strength Of this issue was due
more to the future outlook for the
company, indicated by the increase
ii new business, than to the showing
n the 1926 report, which. so far as
net earrings were concerned. made a
rather unfavorable comparison with
those Of the preceding year.
Public Utilities Strong.
1t could not have been said that
the increased demand for public utili-
lies reflected any change in the out
look for these stocks. They had done
little in the recent upturn and were
thought to be behind the rest of the
market. Once the demand got under
way it carried such stocks as Ameri-
can Water Works and Electric. Mon.
tana Power. North American and
Standard Gas and Electric to record
prices for the year, gains ranging
from to more than points. Lower
priced issues. like Electric Power and
Light, General Gas and Electric A,
Public Service and American and For
eign Power were up substantially on
the day.
Oil shares as group did not re-
spond to the initial step to curtail the
tremendous outflow of crude oil. This
came in the announcement that pro-
ducers in the Seminole field had agreed
to curtail production for 80 days.
Houston Oil stood out as conspicu-
Gus exception and was again bid up
sharply to record prices for the year.
It's strength accompanied predictions
rs to what can be expected in the mat
ter of earnings for 1927, some esti-
mates running as high as $40 share.
Such stocks as Standard of California.
General Asphalt, Marland. Phillips
Petroleum and Sicily Oil were frac-
tionally lower most of the time.
Western MARYLAND Gains.
Efforts to revive speculation in the
lcw-priced merger rails were not
without success. Western Maryland
was bid up some three points after the
first half session, although there were
no new developments which could
have been attributed as the cause for
the renwed demand. Kansas City
Southern was another, with the buying
coming from interests which were
prominent in others of the group some
three weeks ago: Wabash again
crossed the 20 level. but the rise here
ever, failed to affect the high-dividend
payers, which fiuctuated over a com.
paratively narrow range, but were
well maintained around previously
closing quotations.
Crucible, which has stood out as the
most prominent of the independent
steel stocks, was carried to new high
prices So far as increased distribu.
tions to share owners are concerned,
either in the form of stock or cash
payments, there was nothing definite
upon which to base the buying. United
States Steel common held most of the
time within a fraction of the previous
ANAL of 1903.