Evening star., 1937-10-19

March and April Since then, eT-
cept for brief rallyng periods, the
trend has been doUnUGrd The
slump has gathered speed in the
last 90 days, and despite high mar
gin requirements many Investors
finally reached the point uhere
they UeTe forced to sell. Brokers
haze blamed the "thinneSS" OF the
market, or lack OF support, on
Stringency OF Federal regulations
preventing insiders support and
curtailment OF small Investors ac-
tiUity by high margins
BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. October 18th
stock market rallied after two anI
half hour tailspin under huge sellinb
today and leading shares recovered a
portion of wide early losses.
The sell-off. which followed yester-
days break, was on the heaviest VOL
ume in more than four years, with
3,890,000 shares traded between 10
am. and noon. AS recovery inter
vened to stem the selling wave. activ-
ity tapered down. but the ticker tap
still Jagged many minutes behind foe.
trading.
At l pm. the Stock Exchange re
ported 5,040,000 shares had change
hands to that time, the heaviest vol
ume since the Securities Exchang
Commission began policing" the mar
ket in 1894. 1t was also the first s.
600 000-share day in that time, with
two hours still to go.
The ticker tape. once % minute
behind the floor, was only seven min
utes late as the fourth hour began.
Bonds were also sold in large volum
Confusion at Opening.
There we're scenes of wild confusio;
at the opening as shouting broker
rushed to execute orders pouring il.
from all over the country and abroad.
Prices dropped by as much as from 81
to SIS share. but the recovery cut
many of these losses. For example,
Allied Chemical. at one time down S13.
picked up all but So of its drop. and
some stocks even gained over yesttr-
days closing prices.
Commodities slumped abruptly. many
to new lows for the year or longer.
Hides were among the weakes,
groups. A heavy stream of selling
orders pressed December futures be-
low the 12-cent-a-pound level. to the
lowest point since last October.
Steel scrap slumped to 16.00-l6.50
a ton at Pittsburgh. new bottom on
the reaction from the 2200 top
touched in April this year. This was
partly the result of a further reduc-
ton in steel operations to $50 per
cent of capacity. Other metals were
easy.
Rubber broke half a cent a pound
at the maximum. Cotton was lover.
although suffering from none OF the
panicky selling that swept the shale
list. Losses were limited to from
TO l3 points.
| Seat Offered for sci 900.
In the midst of the excitement il
was announced arrangements had
been made for sale of seat on the
Exchange at SCI 900, the same price
at which one changed hands yeSter-
day and the lowest price since 1919.
AS trading swung near the third
hour it was confirmed some of the
big investment trusts had switched tc
| the buying side and were taking
blocks of stocks which they consid-
cred bargains" in the demoralized
state of the market. Rumors of Lon
don buying were also heard.
Distress selling of margin accounts
clipped badly by the steady decline
in share prices since the middle OF
August and especially hurt by yes
terday's widespread slump. was
blamed by brokers for most of the
| flood of offerings.
Foreign orders to sell also played
an influence, brokers declared. Amster-
dam, London and Paris markets. which
closed earlier in the day because o!
the time difference, were lower. largely
as result of yesterdays New York
break.
Floor i'm Confusion.
Seldom since the big break" Of 1920
has the stock exchange witnessed
such scenes of confusion as brokers
dashed from floor telephones to trading
posts with orders to sell. The Shout
ing of bids and offers was at times
deafening; the huge trading floor was
covered with tape and torn memo
| randa.
While many tape watchers appeared
anxious over their commitments, vet
eran brokers and customers men
said there was less evidence Of the
fear psychology manifested during the
panicky periods of 1929, 1881 and 1882
Sightseers, attracted by the feeling
of tension which Wall Street exudes
when some unusual happening oc-
ours, f1ocked to the financial district
and the big building at Broad and
Wall which houses the Stock Ex-
change.
Two blocks away, in the New York
Curb Exchange, similar scenes took
place as stocks listed there tumbled
in sympathy with those on the big
board.
Recent leaders, such as United
States Steel, Chrysler, Du Pont, Amer
ican Telephone and others, were in
the van of the attack, but likewise
when partial recovery set in toward
noon, recovered a portion of theil
| losses.
Some of the high banking circles
in Wall street expressed concern over
the decline, regarding it as symptom
Of disturbance in the economic struc-