Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-22
BY FREDERICK GARDNER,
Associated Press Financial Writer.

Associated Press Financial Writer
NEW YORK, Dec. 21-Euying
support came in for scattered favor
ties in today's stock market, but the
list, on the whole. finished a gen.
orally unsatisfactory week with in
conclusive trends.
Shipbuilding stepped out in front
at the last of the brief session and
steels and specialties tackled on
fractions to point or so, but ragged
tendencies were displayed in vir-
tually all departments at the close
The Associated Press average of
60 stocks was unchanged ct 43,
leaving it about where it was in
September of this year and 1889 1t
was the seventh consecutive session
in which the composite had been
unable to post plus sign.
Of CAT individual issues traded,
220 were up. 202 down and 225 held
at their final levels of Friday.
Year-end tax-selling N several
low priced stocks again accounted
for stable portion of the volume,
which amounted to 420,992 shares,
compared with $780, 800 last Saturday
1941 Taxes Feared.
Aside from the restraint of &C
count adjustments for the income
blanks. brokers said. buying timidity
was attributed partly to persistent
worries over next years tax bill and
lack of anything particularly stimu-
lating in the war news budget. AS
in past weeks, business hopes We're
the principal sustaining factor
Announcement of more Navy
awards for war craft aggregating
s265, 900 spurred the shipbuilding
division in the final few minutes.
New York Shipbuilding went into
new high ground for the year and
Improvements was recorded tor
Americana Hawaiian Steamship and
Newport News Shipbuild:ng
Cudahy Packing. usually dor
mant stock, came to life for a 2l2-
point upswing when the company
disclosed for the fiscal year ended
November 2 the best profits in a
decade.
Steels held their own-U. S. Steel
Bethlehem and youngstown were up
IS each-in the face of a predicted
sharp drop in next weeks mill oper-
atoms because of holiday shutdowns.
At that it was believed the produce
ton rate would hold at a near.
capacity record for any similar week.
Among the better performers were
General Motors, Crucible Steel,
Sears Roebuck, Glenn Martin, Amer
lean Telephone, Anaconda, Kenne-
colt. U. S. Gypsum, Standard Oil of
N. j., Texas Corp, Santa Fe, N. Y.
Central and Great Northern.
Register Declines.
Losers included Chrysler. U. S.
Rubber, American Smelling, General
Electric, Johns-Manville, Allied
! Chemical, Montgomery Ward, Doug
las Aircraft, Woolworth and Inter-
national Harvester
In the curb Todd Shipyards and
Bath Iron Works responded to
mounting orders for ocean tonnage
by again climbing into new high
ground for 1910. A bit higher also
were Pittsburgh Plate Glass, E. w.
Bliss and Gulf Oil. The turnover
here was around 10000 shares,
against 114,000 a week ago.
Notwithstanding the inability of
the markets to break the lengthy
stalemate, constructive indicators
were seen in forecasts of a 10-year
peak for this years Christmas shop
ping, an unexpected jump in this
weeks steel output, a less than
seasonal decline in the preceding
weeks freight loadings, continued
feverish activity in building awards
and the likelihood registrations of
new automobiles in the final quarter
would establish a record for the
period.