Evening star., 1949-10-02
Stock Traders Calm,
Steel Strike Brings
0n|yLight Selling
By William D. Horeon
Associoted Press Market Writer

~ tNSt4S"
Assoeioted Press Market Writer
NEW YORK, Oct. IA strik'
of half a million steel workers af
fected the stock market toda.
just about as much as rain storm
in mid-Atlantic.
Faced with a tie-up of the Ma
tons No. l basic industry, leading
shares dipped fractionally, a few
as much as a point or so. Thirteer
issues established new highs TO
the year. One lone stock hit bot
tom for 1949. Crown Cork ant
Seal.
Selling pressure. aside from al
opening furry of offering. wa
less than usual. Demand wa
equally skimpy.
The general tendency amons
traders was to sit tight. More
than a few are still convinced
that the strike will be settled II
short order. In any case. neither
professional operators or the pub
lie at large showed any tendency
to unload their holdings.
Only 10000 shares Of stock
changed hands in the markets
first Saturday short session sinc'
the customary summer Saturda!
closing.
The Associated Press average o1
80 stocks dipped 2 Of one point
to 65.6-exactly i of one point
higher than the close a week
earlier.
A total Of 651 individual issues
changed hands, Of which BIT de-
clined and 1913 advanced.
United States Steel, second most
active issue. lost ss at % and
Bethlehem, also among the most
active shares. dipped u to 273s
Youngstown Sheet & Tube showed
the largest setback-a point at
65h.
Fractionally lower were Repub-
lie at 20A, Jones g. Laughlin al
25A, and Wheeling at 37B.
Also down, but none very much
were General Motors, Chrysler
Douglas Aircraft. American Tele-
phone, Commonwealth g. South
ern. American Smelling, Du Pont,
Southern Pacific. Texas, Texas
Co.. and Southern Railway.
Gains were posted for Murray
Corp, Commercial Solvents. Saw
age Arms, Consumers Power,
Tex as Pacific and Land Trust,
Baltimore g. Ohio, Philco and
Admiral Corp.
Labor News UnSettling.
The market during the week
had to contend with some Of the
most unsettling labor news since
turbulent 1916. Wall Street. by
and large, considered the markets
reaction as highly satisfactory.
The market has a habit OF
maintaining its composure no
matter how bad the labor news
gets and the tradition was main
tanned this week. There was q
good deal Of churning around but
neither buying or selling ever
showed signs Of getting out OF
hand.
The market had more than steel
to worry about. John L. Lewis coal
miners decided not to work and,
for q while, it looked like the de-
cision might stand for long time.
Goodrich Tire was tied up by a
month long strike. Ford Motor
management and the CIO United
Auto Workers were sweating out a
back breaking series of negotia-
tions in an effort to avoid strike.
Ford and the union reached
agreement on pensions and 1t was
thought highly likely their con-
tract might be used as model in
the steel industry.
The Goodrich Tire strike was
ended after "a days and John L..
ordered back to work some 100000
coal diggers-both developments
blew few gusts of optimism over
the entire labor scene.
Rumors that a steel settlement
was due in minutes or hours re-
verberated through steel cities and
Wall Street more than once. But
at noon Saturday, when the mar
ket closed, there was still nothing
tangible.
Strongest arguments for a set
tlement were simple: A prolonged
strike could hamstring the domes-
tic economy for months; and our
international commitments de-
manded that our productive ma
chinery be kept well oiled.