Evening star., 1928-01-07
CONFUSION RE|GNS
ON STOCK MARKET
Early Frenzied Buying Is Fol-
lowed by .Churning Of
Shares Downward.
BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.

Special Dispatch TO The star.
NEW YORK. January "A boiling
stock market was Wall Streets re
sponsc today to the overnight an
nouncement from Washington that IL
the view of the President there neet
be no alarm about the record heights
to which brokers' loans have climbed
Opening transactions were in huge
blocks and all of them at higher
prices. Gains ram from i to points
in the more sedate issues to over
points in the volatile stocks. Traders
unfortunate enough TO be short of the
market We're taken by surprise and
their covering orders were responsible
for the burst Of strength. There was
undoubtedly some new buying. but
most of that was reserved until, the
market had given some indication OF
what ii was going to do. Shorts did
not dare to wait.
The feature at the start was Mont
gomery Ward. which had closed al
l24ia yesterday. The opening quota
ton today was 129. up Az points for
a block of $4,000 shares.
Huge Blocks Move.
Radio, another recent favorite, sold
at par on the opening transaction
which was a lot of 2.300 shares. The
next sale was 800 shares at 10l
seemingly the catching of stop.loss
order on the short side. General
Motors opened for 5000 shares at l3S
up practically points. United States
Steel had a split opening of 152is TO
l5e&. up = points, the buying com.
prising 5000 shares. Other early
quotations were similarly higher.
After the immediate demand had
been satisfied there were minor re.
cessions under the weight of realiz
ing by those who had purchased
stocks earlier in the week. Activity
continued intense Sales in the first
hour were 775,000 shares, forecasting
a record.breaking Saturday. Theetape
was unable to keep up although the
abbreviated system of reporting was
employed to the fullest extent.
Most Of the features were stocks
in specially class. Montgomery Ward
has already been mentioned. Ameri
can International was another, jump.
ing points TO the highest in over a
year. International Harvester ad
vanced over points. International
Nickel above % was up over 3. In.
ternational preferred gained as much.
Not ali tneSe gains were held once
the realizing got under way.
Some Show Losses.
In instances stocks came down SC
that at one time they showed losses
on the day. Greene Cananea was a
case In point. At 1877 1t was off {
points from the preceding close, after
having been higher at the start. Mont.
gomery Ward lost over points from
its high point. Seldom has the mar.
ket pictured a more confused state OF
opinion.
st. Louis-San Francisco was one of
the leaders OF the rails. Just below
ll6 IL was at a new high on the move.
ment and absorbed profit taking read.
lily. Baltimore Il Ohio was higher for
time, but as rule the rails did no;
command the following that the in.
dustrials did. Atchison. for instance
hardly moved on the day.
The market became more irregular
as the session drew toward an end
Standard stocks in many instances
lost all Of their gain. General Motors
and Steel came down to approximately
closing prices OF yesterday. Industrial
specialties were churned furiously
Some Of them held well. but others
broke rapidly. The motor stocks. the
coppers and the rails were In supply