Evening star., 1927-05-12
trend IRREGULAR
I IN STOCK MARKET
Oil Shares Do Better Today.
!. New York City fractions
/ Are Weak.
BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.

-. Especial Dispatch to The Star.
4 \ NEW YORK, May 12.-Today'
stock market went through a series
of ups and downs with no definite
trend. At times the buying would
.have the upper hand and then again
tho selling side would be predominant
.dmportant news calculated to affect
! sshe general outlook was lacking. De-
selopments of the day consisted most
iy of matter concerning special issues
.or groups, such as the oils and the
New York City fractions. Activity
was we'll distributed between rails and
sndustrials.
I + In the railroad list fhe feature was
New York, Chicago & st. Louis which
ran up above 200 early in the day to
.the highest price in the history of the
present organization. Buying here
was doubtless in response to the ia.
vorable reception accorded the bonds
of the newly organized Chesapeake
! Corporation, the stock of which Is to
! be distributed to shareholders of the
! Nickel Plate.
Erie Preferred Strong.
/ Another strong spot was Erie first
] preferred. as to which it was reported
/ 81 dividend would be guaranteed
when the consolidation plan was
Indiy worked out.
: Chesapeake & Ohio went along for
time with the stocks of the other
roads in the group. So did Hooking
Valley. The railroad stocks, however,
were not uniformly strong Chicago
Great Western common and preferred
We're under pressure and yielded cas-.
lily. AtchiSon fluctuated uncertainty.
no longer the leader Of the dividend
payers.
Oil shares did better. Houston made
a new high for the year, crossing 125.
, and the other stocks in which the short
interest is understood to be large, raj
lied sharply under the leadership Of
Phillips Petroleum and Marland. Pub.
licity was given to the views of Sec
retary Mellon on the oil situation,
F. which are in effect that overproduction
would cure itself through the natural
action of the law of supply and de.
mand. Phillips just under 45 was up
over points from its recent low and
Marland crossing 80 showed a gain on
the same basis of over points.
The New York City fractions were
weak. The market put an unfavor-
able Interpretation upon the breakup
of negotiations between the city au-
thorities and the companies. Brook
lyn-Manhattan was the chief sufferer,
probably because it had been compar-
atively strong earlier in the week.
! Whatever the outcome of the dispute
it cannot be gainsaid that Brooklyn
Manhattan is able to show a steadily
increasing net income on a scent
fare.
Montana Power Stands Out.
Montana Power stood out among
1.-The utilities. selling around its best
for the year. 1t was again rumored
that the preferred stock would be re-
deemed with the proceeds Of a de- |
benture bond issue, cutting down
charges ahead of dividends on the |
common. 1t is not an unusual thing |
nowadays for a prosperous corpora |
tion to substitute a fixed for a con-
tingent charge in its capital structure
when the result is larger equity in
earnings for the common stock
holder.
| AS to industrials generally. the
market was highly irregular. Steel
! got down below ITO. General Motors
twas heavy during the first half of the
| day. Each of these old-tine+ leaders
tagged behind their respective groups. |
The story was again current that |
Henry Ford was about to make an ag |
gressive move in the automobile field, |
anu LHlS Ildu d TEStEdiillIIS lIliluSiICS |
on speculation for the rise in the mo- |
tor stocks. A more reasonable ex- |
planation was that the market had |
sbecome overbought for the time be- |
ing, especially with the elimination of |
80 many shorts.
| Specialties picked out for favor in |
cluded Case Threshing Machine. |
Fleischmann, National Surety and |
Union Bag and Paper. Each Of these |
at one time or another sold above any. |
thing recorded previously this year.