Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-02-07
STOCKS SELL OFF
ON PR0F|T-TAK|NG.
Bear Attacks Follow Strong
Opening-Some Special
Moves Lift Shares.
BY GEORGE r. HUGHES.

Special DSpatfh 10 Inc Nidi
NEW YORK. February THE stock
market sold off sharply today on heavy
profit taking sales, following an active
and strong opening In which the steel
and motor shares held the center OF
interest.
The raising of the call loan renewal
rate to AZ. per cent and the subsequent
calling of additional loans might have
been cause for some uneasineSS OH 'he
part of the speculative element. cSpe-
ciallv in view of the recent improve
mcnt in prices.
The sudden demand for the motor
oro,ln that appeared Yesterday appar-
emily had not been satisfied at me
start today ana they opened actiVe aho
strong. The enormous volume Oh pu$
ing orders for the motors was lnuicat'o
bv the fact that 1t was almost III MN
utcs after trading started before hrSt
sales we're recorded in General MotoIo;
But the upward movement proved
only temporary.
Bethlehem Carried Up.
Notwithstanding the intimatlofls oy
Chairman Charles M Schwab previous
10 his departure for abroad that there
was little likelihood for common diVi-
dcnds for Bethlehem Steel during the
early part of this year the STOCK was
carried 10 to a new high for the move
before realizing made itself felt The
advance Of over 90 points in Vanadlnm
CORPORATION apparently had weakened
the technical market position and after
brief period of strength the STOCK
turned definitely downward. u. ,. Steei
crossed TAG, but subsequently oroppco
back over all The ground gained. Evil
IDENTIFY the steels had gone ahead 100
fast in discounting improvement pres
ent and prospective In the INDUSTRY
First sales in General Motors were
recorded at 1877 and the price later ad-
yanced a point as compared with the
previous final OF 1854, but 1t lost most
OF the gain when the steels turned
downward
The special operation in Studebaker
kept on Those back of the buying were
predicting early retirement of the pre-
ferred stock and greatly increased earn
ings for 1928. based upon the highly
favorable January results. 1t was rather
far fetched. however, TO estimate what
motor companies are likely to earn this
year with nothing more upon which 20
base calculations than January disclo-
Sures
Shorts In American Linseed.
Shorts In American Linseed were
having difficulty in getting In their COM
mltments and had to bid the price up
further In order to even up accounts
Montgomery Ward went to its highest
for the present shares and Electric
Auto-Lite was an outstandingly strong
afuit at sDy<
ton of the earnings statement OF Tran
sue a. Williams bore out everything that
had been predicted New profit of IS
cents share. compared with net loss
OF $l77.758 In the previous year. The
price jumped 10 It's highest since 1920
following this showing
There were as many weak spots as
there we're points OF strength. Heavy
selling Of the sulphur stocks found the
market for both Freeport Texas and
Texas Gulf Sulphur vulnerable to these
operations and prices broke badly be-
fore support was encountered Pathe
Exchange class "A was subjected to
further liquidation which carried the
price down 10 new low at g. Oft over
3 points from the preceding close The
sugar stocks bore their share in the
weakness. American Sugar was re-
ficeting apprehension over the dividend
action 10 be taken tomorrow Unprofit-
able conditions in the industry during
the past year will make unfavorable
reading in the final reports and this is
what the market was diScounting
In the afternoon selling became per-
Sistcnt all through the list. II was
particularly pronounced in the railway
section Shares of the Southern roads
which made the poorest December
showing bore the brunt OF the offer
!ngs IN this quarter. but practically all
rails were affected Erie dropped pelow
30. loss of more than points. Bal
timofe II Ohio was down like amount
New Haven, st. Iouis-San Francisco
ST, Louis Southwestern and Southern
Pacific shared in the decline.