Evening star., 1930-12-11
STOCKS ARE LOWER
!. ON BANK CLOSING
Decline in Market Proceeds
on More Orderly Scale.
Il Leaders Supported.
BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, December 1.-THE re-
action OF stock market to the closing
OF the Bank of the United States today
was a further decline in prices, orderly
and not on large volume, but fairly
uniform, except for a few of the in
dustrial leaders to which support was
accorded.
The market had the news of the
banks closing before the opening and
initial quotations were predominantly
lower. At the same time no large
blocks appeared on the tape; that is to
say not large measured by normal
standards. The general comment at the
time was that the market had taken
the news remarkably well.
Decline in Rails.
Later in the forenoon, however, prices
sagged again and new lowS.were reached
in large number of issues. The weak
ness was pronounced in the rails, but
these had been going down a long time
under discouraging selling caused by
continued drops in car loadings and
losses in net and gross income. Tax
selling was factor in this part of the
list also.
New York Central opened at new
low, and before the day was half over
such standard dividend payers as Nor
folk & Western, Pennsylvania, South
ern Pacific and Reading were at new
lows. IF such strong transportation
systems as these four are unable to re-
tain the confidence of investors. it is
not surprising that stocks of roads of
lesser rank should weaken.
There was thin market for indus
trial specialties Fox Film "a" sold off
sharply and in considerable volume
Johns-Manville went to a new low and
so did j. I. Case and Columbia Carbon,
In most of these cases it was technical
market conditions rather than changes
in the outlook for the corporations that
affected prices.
The utilities were heavily sold, with
new lows for American Power & Light,
Pacific Lighting and American Water
Works among others.
OF the standard industrialS, General
Motors made the best showing, of most
of the time fractionally. United States
Steel, opening at 140 down a point,
slipped back to within a fraction of the
previous low, but met support around
that level. American Telephone reacted
2 or 3 points, but held above its low
General Electric showed little ralIying
power.
The market was nervous and unset
tied, with professional opinion divided
as to the immediate outlook, but unit
on the proposition that long-term in
vestment opportunities for those who
could pay cash for their stocks and dis
regard temporary fluctuations were more
numerous than in years.
Support at Opening.
Though the volume of trading on the
stock market early today was the heay-
lest since November IL, prices held well
In the face of such an adverse develop
ment as the closing of the Bank of the
United States.
There were only two large block
sales and most of the declines in the
active list were fractional. There was
o partial recovery late in the first hour.
United States Steel opened at 14O,
on ], dropped to 1892 and then re-
covered to l403s. This was typical of
the markets movements. Money re-
newed unchanged at 2 per cent. Sales
during the first half hour amounted to
AIS, 100 shares against 242, 600 on We'd
nesday.
The rails were the weakest group.
with new lows being made by Baltimore
d Ohio. st. Paul preferred, Chesapeake
Corporation, Lackawanna, Missouri
kanSas-Texas, New York Central and
Norfolk & Western.
In the industrials, Columbia Carbon
and Case Threshing touched new lows.
but Case recovered to show only frac-
tional loss. Drug, Inc. was a weak fea-
ture, opening of l3s points on a 6,O0O,-
share lot, TO new low. Later it Drop
ped further. Two weak utilities were
American Power g. Light and American
Water Works, both at new bottoms.
Standard Oil Of California also hit a
fresh minimum. TranSamerica was of
. small fraction to its lowest level of
1880. Motors held well.