The Washington times., 1929-06-01
PRICES
DROP DURING
WEEK
By, w. 8. COUSINS

NEW YORK, June Q.N.S.l-The
public was scared. out of the stock
market this week by the prospect of
a violent squeeze in the money mar
ket incident to the unusually heavy
June settlements at the banks
| for interest and dividends, as we'll as
the preparation for Treasury finan-
cling: but, as usual, the big break in
stock prices was 80 far ahead of the
anticipated money squeeze that It's
effects were nullified and the profess
sionals in the stock market were
able to reap a golden harvest.
In fact, the wholesale liquidation
! Of stocks brought about q big de-
crease in brokers' loans, which
served the purposes of the banks
much better than. the calling Of
loans, and, instead of skyrocketing
| to 80 per cent, as anticipated, the
caIl loan rate remained at per cent
| in the three days preceding the Me-
4, mortal Day holiday.
With Chrysler Motor stock down
| So points from the high of the year,
Anaconda Copper down IS; Greene
! Cananea Copper down so; u. s. Steel
down 90; johns ManEille down SO;
National Biscuit down 81: Sears.
Roebuck down 81: Montgomery Ward
| down 81, and various active indus.
trials down 10 to 20 points, 1t Is easy
| to see that the deflation in stock
| prices has been greater than the re.
| duction in speculative borrowings.
The tidal wave Of selling has
wiped out equities running as high
as $500 ,000, 900 in the stock Of one
prominent motor car manufactures,
slicing profits by the millions from
trading accounts and driving thou.
sands of small traders out of the
market entirely. In 10 trading days
from May to May q the market
averages dropped from the high TO
the low of the year.
Bears in the stock market had
their long.awaited opportunity to
garner profits by the millions When'
In response to the spread OF the
bluest rumors about money market
squeezes, falling business in the
motor, copper and other trades, to-
gether with the sharp drop in wheat
prices to under a dollar q bushel,
weak holders of industrial stocks
rushed into Wall Street from all
sections of the country to dump
their stocks at any price. Coming
at the end of a long-drawn decline,
this final spasm of selling knocked
| the props from under the specula.
| tors, who have been hanging on
in the hope Of a rally, but were
finally caught in the swirling deluge
of forced selling.
On the whole. business and indus
trial reports of the week were
favorable. The reparations commits
sions at Paris made considerable
headway in adjusting the aggre..
gated and the annual amount OF
Germany's payments to the allies,
| an important factor in the interna-
| tional markets at this time. The
remarkable demand for steel has
been maintained we'll into the warm
season, though automobile manu-
| facturers have ordered moderate
cuts in their orders for finished
! steel.
The break in wheat prices to be-
low a dollar bushel forced holders
of stocks In the Midwest to un-
load thousands of shares in the New
York and Chicago markets at prices
which cut heavily into their cash
resources, and this was, undoubtedly,
a big factor in turning the market
! downward. After a feeble rally on
, Wednesday. the reaction was re-
sumed on Friday, to the accom-
paniment Of another 2.cent break on
| wheat prices,