New Britain herald., 1930-05-15
Neither Short Nor Long Positions Particularly Successful, So Profes- sionals Proceed Cau- tiously-Auburn Siumps 30 Points.

-'e" 1oFht May l ) p-Stock prices sank slowly in unusually calm seas today, as professional operators failed 10 provide renewed buoyancy, and the public demained apathetic. A few ishues in which only thin market is provided. broke sharply, but leading shares generally lost lit tie more than points or 50.
 Neither long Or short positions in the market have worked out very profitably Of late, and traders were disposed 10 await developments suf- fciently 10 be used as q starting point for 8 new move. With moder- ate signs of i'm provement in freight traffic. retail trade. and bank clear lnss, bears have been cautious, but bulls have failed to attract any notable following in bidding up stocks,
 Interest On Loans
 Speculative attention was focused on the federal reserve brokera se loan and condition statements. to appear after the close Of the mar ket, and this also served 10 hold operations in check. While the rally in prices over the past week would seem to indicate q substantial gain Tn loans, hangover liquidation Of weakly held stock on rallies some times causes a further reduction in the total, even after selling move ment has definitely ended, and the market turned upward.
 A conspicuous item in the days news Ras the reduction of the American Locomotive annual diyl- dend rate from & 10 s4 but this Lad been so generally expected that il was without rf1ection in the mar ket, Standard oil Of New Jerseys annual report. showing s475 share against s443 in 1928. and q mildly optimistic summary of condi- lions in the industry by W. C. Teagle. president failed 10 stir up renewed enthusiasm for the oils Some o fthe eastern utilities were firm, in response to further rumors Of new alignments. United Corp. was said 10 have made an even more attractive offer for a block Of Columbia Gas stock than the one rumored few days ago
 Auburn Very Weak
 Auburn Auto was an acutely weak spot, dropping nearly 30 points 10 new low for the year below 160. and more than 100 points below it's I93n peak. Bears eventually singled out this issue, despite it's excellent sales record on the basis of the pros 7ect Of increasing competition from other manufacturers who are plan ming model changes, and the report for the last quarter. showing net Of only s cents a share, against B 04 for the same period a year previous ly.
 Such issues as Case, Worthington Pump, Macy and Eastman Kodak broke 4 points or more. Shares de- clining or points included L. S. St6el, American Can, American Tel ephone, Public Service Of N. J. Standard Gas. Electric Power & Light, Coco Cola, Westinghouse Elec- tric, American Tobaco, Kansas City Southern, and Norfolk and Western.
 Columbia Gas vas bid up a few points, in response to the rumored exchange offer by United Corp, and the Western Pacific common and preferred shares were strong on ru- mors that the Van Swerlngens, hav- ing completed their acquisition of control of Missouri Pacific. would turn their attention to Western Pa cific. IL has been rumored for some time that they would seek 10 line up q through system 10 the Pacific although actual physical merger of the properties IS not expected. St. Louis Southwestern rose several points to a new 1880 high, and American and foreign power and Radio Keith were firm,