Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-27
STRENGTH IN BOND
MAINTAINED
List Shows Steady Tone
During Week on Light
Volume of Trading.

special Dispatch 10 Tine star.
NEW YORK, July 26.-Is the present
good" bond market the herald of an
upturn in business within the next few
months and an incidental advance in
| equities?
That is the question many are ask
| ing In the words of the bond men,
the answer is an enthusiastic affirma-
tive, but in their very eagerness can be
detected the parent of the hope. From
the bearish faction that has been camp
| ing stubbornly in Wall Street for
months, the reply is as firmly negative.
Once again, however, with the bears
severely shaken by recent events in the
| stock market, the case Is being over
stated. Somewhere between lies the
right answer.
For the Spectator it Is poor bond
| market, because prices have remained
substantially at the same level for two
weeks. For the investor it is a good
market, because the markets own
| lethargy has left the prices of many
sound issues out of line, or rather at
lower levels than they would ordinarily
be in the present mood of the money
market.
Recent Strength in Market.
Two weeks ago the market had a
burst of strength and ran up to new
| the Standard Statistics index Of 80
bonds. 1t seemed to settle at the top,
while volume slackened. The index is
/ still lowering around the high level,
while trading remains dull.
On the other hand, counter trading
is reported as brisk and the marking
| up of prices of prime municipals dur
ing the past week has been some proof
| of this. There has been a dearth Of
| OoOd v,nYaY1irfnal f10ta ti0F1S rappntlV and
even the heavy volume of corporate and
| foreign financing has dwindled until
| the weeks total was again under $780,
900 900. Efforts of the larger banking
houses to curb the stream of new offer
! ings and relieve the market of the
strain of a constant oversupply have
been partly successful.
| But the long anticipated rise in second
grade bonds, those issues which give
| in return for reasonable security yield
! of 5 per cent or more, has not even
| tuated. And some of them, notably the
Cities Service debenture per cent of
1850, recently fioated, have sagged a
little as result of the lack OF enthu-
siastic buying.
For those looking for wide fiuctua-
| tons, the investment markets perform
ance in the past week was a disap-
pointment. For those looking for big
volume it was also a disappointment.
But for those to whom the retention Of
high levels in quiet trading was an
indication of the great strength OF the
markets technical position, the week
held much interest.
! Standard Statistics index OF 80 bonds
| ended the week at 1904, compared to
the years high of 1905. These levels
are both higher than the record high
OF 1929, which was 99.1, and are well
above the 1929 low, which was 80.
| Foreign List.
Foreign bonds were quiet and little
/ changed in the weeks trading. French
issues moved little higher with the
| increased strength of Frances fiscal
! condition. The new Austrian rs ran
down to a discount in London and re-
covered to the offering level with a
demand from Switzerland and austria,
where the loan was a success. Various
| foreign loans which were under nego-
tiation weeks ago have been postponed
| for some time at the instance of the
| international syndicates arranging
/ them. This has proven a boon to the
| final distribution Of the Austrian and
German loans
Late in the week, the house of Nor
gan announced that new agreement
had be>7i reached in regard to the set
| Element of the government debt Of Mex
1 leo and the bonded indebtedness of the
Mexican National Railways. This Will
be the third agreement in less than
decade. Political troubles have inter-
| rupted the carrying out of the previous
| two arrangements. The amount involved
totals around $500 600. 900.
| (Copyright, 1900