Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-04-03
Stock Market Loses
Most Of Gains From
tuesdays Rally

Mw YORK, April 7.-wall
exeet gave birth to o bull market
tShis week but the baby all but
es1jed up It's toes and died.
Late Monday the Federal Re-
,Qsrvs Board announced that, ef1ec-
xe Wednesday, stocks could be
bought on Q margin Of so per cent
6 cash instead Of the previous rs
Per osnt. The news touched OF
. spiwss Of buying On Tuesday
that gave the market one Of the
biggest lifts Of the past year.
The general level Of prices ad-
vAnced to the highest point since
February 4. Turnover approached
ths 1000, 000-shars mark.
The next day. Wednesday.
PROFIT taking and short sales wal
hped the markst but there was
Otfzl enough demand from the
public and other groups to keep
brtoes steady. Business was even
hfssg. By 0 small amount, than
en Tuesday.
On Thursday. signs Of malnutri-
ton appeared. The general tn
vesttng public sat tight. Trading
volume contracted sharply. Prices
dropped all along the line.
The symptoms persisted on Fri
day. Prices continued to drop
and volume slackened still further.
Faint signs Of q rally appeared
on Saturday but the results OF the
two-hour session were not too
conclusive.
Public Returns 70 Sidehnes.
At the week end the market had
lost all but q small part Of the
mid-week advance. The general
public had made It's brief appear
ance and quickly returned to the
sldeltnes.
The week, nevertheless, was
certainly not without It's oonsola-
lions.
The margin reduction marked
The and of & two-year running ar
aument between Wall Street and
the monetary authorities. For
months financial leaders had con-
tended that high margins were
running the securities business and
starving American industry OF
sorely needed venture capital.
The Reserve Board had taken
the view that excessively low mar
gins would lead to speculative
excuses at q time when powerful
imitation forces were at york. The
board apparently decided that the
danger had passed.
IN the meantime, brokerage
houses did more business than
Shsy have done In any week this
yeer. A total Of 6,538.280 shares
sold on the exchange. not sur
passed since the final week Of 1s4S.
There was o small fly even in
This ointment. Commission houses,
who act as brokers for their clients
and charge q commission for do
ing 30, undoubtedly had a couple
of fat days. But trading by floor
brokers for their own account also
expanded-and those gentlemen,
who are members of the exchange.
do not have to pay a commission.
Favorably rated by the experts
was the fact that when prices
dropped on Thursday and Friday.
volume dropped, too. The market,
m other words, didn't seem to
have any substantial selling
hanging over it.
Colds Take Spotlight.
Late In the week gold stocks
cared into prominence again. In
he last few minutes Of trading
On Friday buying suddenly quick
med on the heels of news Of surg
ing demand for gold shares IN
London, johannesburg and To-
ronto.
Buying in the overseas ex-
changes apparently was based on
q revival Of persistent rumors
that a hike In the price OF the yell
low metal was possible. Monetary
gold is officially priced at $35 an
ounce but has brought a little
more than that when sold for in
dustrial purposes. Black market
sales have been made at $50 an
ounce and up.
A rise In gold prices. Of course.
would step up gold mining profits
Accordtnsly. i
Intarost IA the colds carried
through on Saturday when . large
sroup Of them advanced fractions
Ds->>> .>.