Evening star., 1929-06-30
NEW YORK CURB
SETS NEW RECORD
Total Number of Shares Al
most Double Corresponding
Six Months of 1928.
BY HARRY II. BECKER.

1
York Curb Exchange. A new high rec
| ord In the volume of transactions wa
established, with the total number o.
| shares dealt in almost double that O.
the corresponding six months OF 1921
and equal to more than 80 per cent o1
| the entire turnover in that year. Thi'
was accompanied by a corresponding
| increase in public interest to NEE
which the exchange expanded its facll
tiles in various ways and extended it'
ticker service to cities not heretofore
| included in the system.
The remark is commonly heard now
, adays that with the single exception o.
| the New York Stock Exchange the Curl
now serves the largest speculative cllen-
tele in the world.
One of the most notable functions o.
the institution during the past SIS
months was in providing what might
be termed testing ground for certain
issues Of new enterprises which have
since become popular among botf
speculatcrs and investors. The develop
ment of the airplane industry brought
about the desirability of maintaining g
free market for its securitiesd. The Curl
was the first exchange to realize tbs
Importance of this, and within the Pc
Rod covered actively traded in % issues
of leading airplane and accessory manu-
featuring enterprises, compared VIII
only eight at the close OF 1928.
Nearly Two Thousand Stocks Listed.
Another important activity of the ex-
change was the creation OF market
for investment trust securities, 10 OF
which are now being dealt in. Alto
getlner the organization at present pro-
vides public market for 1869 different
stocks of domestic and international
~ sNf0 q ma
similar local institution. This contrasts
with 1,74l stocks six months ago. There
are 300 domestic bonds listed and ap-
proximately 100 coupon-bearing issues
of foreign governments, municipalities
and business enterprises. The number
of these has shown little change during
the period because of the declining pub
lie interest in that type of investment
In consequence the bond business OF
the exchange has been reduced to about
half the total of the first six months
of 1923.
At present about 700 separate issues
both stocks and bonds, are traded In
daily on the average. This is also II
excess of the average for the same time
a year ago, the increase being accounted
for largely by the almost daily admis-
sion of new securities.
Price Initiation Readiusted.
The prolonged campaign for the rise
which dates back several years, contin-
ued more or less, without major inter-
ruption, through the early part of 1929.
The first important setback came only
after the Federal Reserve Board, in its
efforts to check speculative excesses, is
sued its now famous warning against
the use of bank credits In such cam
paigns. 1t was just before this threat
of drastic action to curtail borrowing
that many securities reached the high
est prices at which they ever sold, the
advances In some cases amounting to
100 per cent over the closing levels OF
1928. In the series of subsequent reac-
tions, some especially severe, the gen.
eral price level has returned almost to
the point from which the rise started
early in January. This readiustInent
appears to be making further progress
and has tended to sober speculative en-
thusiasm to a material extent.
Among the interesting episodes which
stand out in the individual perform
ances of the past half year probably
none attracted such widespread atten-
ton as the violent fluctuations in the
Ford of Canada shares before and after
the old stock was split 20 for /. The
readjustment plan created 10 shares OF
non-voting "a" stock and share OF
voting certificates, class "B." Unfortu-
nately, many traders we're in ignorance
of the fact that the listing rules of the
exchange banned tra5 ng in non-voting
issues. AS a result of this misappre-
hension many made open commitments
in Ford "a" believing it a good deliv-
cry against the "E" Then the eX-
change restated its policy toward nom
voting stocks and dealings in the "a
tnx1 vr{lv ~
Ban Lifted on Seasoned Stocks.
Despite its long-standing dislike Of
non-voting stock, the exchange later
gave official sanction to the listing of
Ford of Canada "a" but it never be-
came much of a market favorite. The
''B" from the time of It's admittance
had a spectacular career, rising about
100 per cent in less than a week and
sensational character of its movements
is best illustrated by the high price of
ITO, reached soon after the capital
changes we're authorized in March, and
the low of 5612, which was established
three weeks later. The "A" shares have
moved within radius Of fewer than rs
points.
That the ban on non-voting stock
was somewhat elastic was shown also
by the subsequent admission of several
securities of that type, an example
being Great Atlantic & Pacific COM
mon which, in the short time since it
was listed has had a spectacular rec
ord. 1t rose from the Introductory
price of 322 to within a few points of
500 and recently has sold about 100
points below the extreme high.
Having established a precedent in the
matter of non-voting shares, the au-
thorities of the exchange have stated
publicly that in the future they will
recognize seasoned securities of that
class for trading on the belief that the
voting power of q stock is of little i'm
portance when the management of the
company is established and its policy
well known.