Evening star., 1932-01-26
STOCKS ARE FIRM
ON BETTER BUYING.
Trading Remains Dull Pend
ing Action on U. S. Steel
Dividend.
BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch TO Ihe star.
NEW YORK, January 26.-The stock
market faced dividend uncertainties
and the prolonged delay in reaching
an agreement on the railway wage
question today with surprising de-
gree of composure. AS far as there was
any movement of prices, 1t was on tne
side of advance. Trading was stlll
very dull, but the professionals seemed
to believe that it was safer to buy than
to sell. "
Opening prices were slightly higher
and gains predominated throughout the
first two hours, although all OF them
were modest and some Of them not wen
sustained. The rails led in the I'M
provement, but they did not monopollz11ee
it, Sentiment in the Street was stlll
confident about the brotherhoods &C
cepting some wage cut, and the rail-
road shares ignored entirely the, De
cember earnings statements, Wnlcn'
under any other conditions, would nave
proved depressing.
Rail Features.
Among the features in the carrier
oroun we're Missouri Pacific preferred
at a new high for 1882 Atchison and
Union Pacific, which met the best de-
mand. and many low-priced stocks.
Discussion continued with regard 10
the probable action of the United
states Steel directors on the common
dividend after the markets close. Dur
ing the morning the shares of the cor
poration moved through range OF
about q point, either unchanged from
the preceding close or at an advance.
Allied Chemical, American Can, EAST
man Kodak and other shares OF tnat
grade moved slowly forward. good deal
Of the demand doubtless came from tne
shorts. Lower-priced issues were more
active. with American Woolen preferred
one of the features. Kreuger q ION
was turned over In large volume, up
fractionally but at new years top,
m reports that earnings covered the
present dividend by wide margin.
It was noticeable that the oil stocks
were still heavy. They seemed to have
no speculative following. Authorizes
In the trade are not pessimistic and the
statistics are encouraging rather tnan
the reverse, but the oils remained sta
tionary while the rest Of the list was
advancing. General Motors was very
steady and so were the motor shares
generally, Notwithstanding the profes-
sional attitude of doubt toward the
group. Tobacco stocks were strong un-
der the leadership of American Tobacco
and r. j. Reynolds. Utilities were dull.
but American Telephone & Telegraph
rallied.
Opening Prices Higher.
The opening was rather quiet, but
prices pointed higher.
= United States Steel at 42$s was up 1s.
Bethlehem Steel at 1875 was unchanged,
but Republic Steel rose Is to 512.
Numerous dividend meetings sched-
l,led for today, rather than the Chicago
railway wage conference or the quiet
tone to early overseas markets, held the
interest of Wall Street. During the
morning Studebaker, Pierce-A Arrow and
Norfolk & Western act on payments,
while in the afternoon Brooklyn Edison,
Illinois Central, Inland Steel and sun
Oil consider dividends. After the close
United States Steel will act on It's COM
mon shares and Colorado Fuel g. Iron
on It's preferred stock.
General Motors rose "a to 2134, but
Auburn Auto lost u at 141. Du Pont
opened up III at 521a. American Tele-
phone advanced "a to 116B. but In
ternational Telephone declined u to
sas. Consolidated Gas gained g at
60as. Standard Oil of California was
up u at 237s and Standard Oil of New
Jersey was unchanged. Most of the
rails were higher. slight gains being
recorded by Baltimore g. Ohio, Chesa-
peake & Ohio and Missouri Pacific pre-
ferred
Westinghouse Electric advanced q
and Allied Chemical was up point.
American Can and General Electric
were unchanged. National Biscuit rose
"a, while National Dairy Products
eased