Evening Star Newspaper, June 28, 1930, Page 15

. CURB SHARES WOVE + INNARROW RANGE Small Gain in Prices Occurs Near End of Short Session. BY JOHN A. CRONE. @pecial Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, June 28.—A slight in- frease in activity and an improvement in prices took place near the close of the curb exchinge tnday. The session, however, was one of the slowest thus far this year and price movements were moderately higher. Electric Bond & Share, United Light & Power A and Niagara Hudson Power :‘ere at levels above the lows of the ay. The extremely light volume of trans- actions was accompanied by the ap- pearance of a number of very inactive issues and the non-appearance of some ket leaders until the last few min- tes of trading. Cities Service appeared infrequently and mostgof the time at levels frac- ptionally below that of its previous close. Cosden Oil gained. Standard Oll of Indiana pointed higher a few minutes before the finish and some of the South erican oils improved. United Gas shares were dull, although the company, which is a subsidiary of Electric Power & Light Corporation, an- nounced it had acquired control of the Northern Texas Utilities Co. The soft- ness of Walgreen was typical of the movement of drug chain ‘shares. NEW YORK COTTON NEW YORK, June 28 (Special).— ‘With little rain in the Mississippi Val- ley, where moisture is reported to be led, the cotton market held very t-d{ today and under quiet trading en with & gain of 6 to 7 points. ‘The market generally, was quiter than at any time week. The ‘Weather Bureau held out little hope of general rains in the early part of next week. were reduced 10 5 2555338537 GRAIN MARKET CHICAGO, June 28 (Special).—The wheat market was lower today. It had firm under commission house Pbuying influenced by firmness at Liver- pool, but reports of rain in Western Canada and weakness in Winnipeg in- duced selling and & sharp setback. Clesing prices were 7 to 114 lower and for the week 15 to 2 cents lower. July, 9015 to 90',: September, 9435 to 94} December, 1005 to 100. ‘The week's market in wheat showed moderate losses due to liquidating pres- sure. Corn and oats followed wheat. Corn closed 3; to 133 lower and for the week 3, lower to 33 higher. July, 74Y, to 74':: September, 73%; m- ber, 677 to 67%. Weather was favor- able for the crop. totaled 46,000 bushels. Oats closed 13 to 33 lower and for the {nek 1% to 4 lower. July, 35 to 35%: !:zember, 36%; December, 39% to 39%. Provisions were firm. Shipping sales V. §. TREASURY BALANCE. ‘The United States Treasury balance announced today as the close of business June 26 was $344,272,189.26. Customs receipts for the month to date were .$68,444.571.80. Total ordinary expendi- tures, $12,703.399.72. INDS ON THE CURB MARKE' Sales in DOMESTIC BONDS. usands. 3".513.... Pow 55 3 Alsbama Py 4ix 18 Aluminum Co 55 4 Aluminum Ltd 85 14 Am Cmwl] v Am . 91N 9T i 911 911 107 © 1064 1 97% 9713 97 SAm Solv 6las '36 ww 1Appaiach Pow 5s 3 Appalach Gas 65 2 Appala 973 8% 847 RéTp : et iy 2222 i YOl O O ] S 1990001 les Service 55 Berv Pow 51 7 1 Grown 60>, oara 16 Crucible Steel 85 - ¥ "8Dei C Gias 63 A 1Det Int Brde 75 Bast it Tnese 54 Empire O&R Siis '42 § Prderat Wat 8178 Firestone 35 ° arlock Packs 65 s 1001, 19118 1011 101 501 98% 98% w2 0 Mass Gas 5158 Mid s Pet. Util 55 Mont L H&P 55 A ' Morris & Co 7iis 34 98'% 98'a 981. 110012 100'2 100°3 ;30 100%> 10013 1001 < Brmmanunnarnn 3 Ve 9913 *% 1013 101 o 81 947, 951, 10035 10055 10034 48101 101 ' 101 w 98 98 o w 1051 83 35w 20 004 seans T yoait 10214 1 <100 18 1 o 9% 99% 89% 12 80 80 o o L] 101% -01 r . s Bweriiig Wabash 55 D ‘80 ash Webater_ Ml 3cer 59 ‘ebster Mil ¥ POREIGA, HON. 18 Bertin & 65 58 ) 1 Bues Atres 6':s 61 q ! 5 s 5 34, 65 47 FINANCIAL. Notice—All stocks l.:l." n be sold In w. Dividen 8% Allled Mills 12% Am CP&L(B)(10%) 21% Am Com I'(A) b10%, 34} Am Cwith P(B)10% % Am Control Ol Flds. 20 2 28 $8% Am For Pwr(war). . 109% 104% Am Gas&Elec pf(6)n 167 104 Am Gas& Elee (11). 16% 74 Am Invest, Inc (B). 19% Tk Am Natural Gas 48 26 Am Phoenix (3) 39% 20% Am Superpwr (1)... 101% 94% A.n Super 1st pf (6) 116% 1113% Am TobacB(new)w.i 1124 111 Am Tobac (new) w.i. 18% 7% Am U&Gen B vic 40 7% 1% Am Tvette (n) w.i 14% 8% Appalachian Gas % Arkansas Nat G 814 Ark Nat Gas (A) 102 Ark P &Lt pf (1) 5% Asso Eleo ind (3 861 Asso Gas&El ctfs(8) 4% Auto Musio A(11.05) 24% Aviation Corp of Am 64 Blue Ridge Cp(20c)., 33% Blue Ridge cv pfia3) 14 Borne Scrymser (2). 86% Brazil Trac & Lt (2). 2% Bridgept Mach (26¢c) 2% Burma Corp (131¢).. 3% Canada Marcon! ) Cent States Elec 3400 4% Centrifug Pipe(60c). 2% Chain Stores Dev.... 17% Chat Ph Al n-v(50¢). 17:% Chem Nat Asson-v.. 24'x Citles Serwice(130¢) 88 Citles Srve pf (6)... 15 Clev Tractor (1.60).. 8% Col Oil & Gas vte 3% Com'with & Sou 5 11% Comm Wat Serv b6% 1. Consol Auto Merch. . 3% Consol Copper T'a Con Uil 21 6% 19 1% 8% 14% % 16 108 1% undries. . .. 101% Contl G&EI pr pf(7).250: 1244 Continental Ofl...... 71 Contl Shares pf (6).. 2bs 38 Cooper Bess pf A (3) 5 Copeland Prod,Inc A. 6 Cord Corp... 19% Corp Sec, Chi (b6’ 52 CosdenOll.... ) 30 Crown C&S pf(2.70). 508 34 Cuneo Press (2%)... 20 Davenport Hos (2) 2 Davis Drug Stor ctfs 2% Dayton Air & Eng... 83 Deere & Co (11.20) 16% Detroit Gasket(1.20) 71 Dow Chemical (2 4 Dubllier Cond & Ra 144 Duke Power (35).. 10 Dug 2% Durant Motors 7% Eastn Utl Inv (A) 9% Eisler Eelectric(1% 923 El Bond&Sh pf wi(h, 70% EI Bond & Sh (b§ . 2 (new), 18% 23 9 L 2d pf(A)(7). 124 Empire Fire Ins..... 1243 Europ EI, Ltd A(60¢) 2 Fabrics Fininshing.. 9 1 Products. ., 18% Federal Screw (3)... 17 Fiat receipts (1.25)., 1 Fiat Stock deb rts. 13% Fokker Afreraft, 28 Ford Mot,Can A t1% 104 Ford Mor.Ltd 373e. 213 Fox Theater Cl (A). 70 Franklin Mfg pf (7). 25 2% General Baking..... 10% Gen E. Ltd rcta(§0e) 79 Gen G&Eev pf B(§). 50 Gen Petroleum w.... Gen W W&E(A) (3). Globs Underwriter: Golden Center. ... Goldman Sach TC. ., 26% Gt Lakes D C (new). 17% Gulf Oll of Pa134). 9 Hall Lamp (1%) % Happiness Candy. 18% Hazeltine Corp (2) 13 Houston Ofl of Te: 7 Hudson Bay M&8S.. 35%\Hydro Elec Sec (2). 18% Imp Ofl. Can. n(50e), 22 Imp Tob GB&I(1}). 28% [nd Ter? {1lu O1) (A) 17 Ind #in ctfs(b10%)., Indus Fin cv pf (1).. 75 Insurance Sec(1.40), Intercontinent Pet n Intercont Pow A (2). Intl Petroleum (1) 1 1 5 4 6 2 1 1 1 58 8 L] 1 8 2 68 3 2 1 2 1 2 2 3 6 2 2 5 4 ¢ 31 166% 1 18 one hundred-share lots the letter s (65s) (285) ©0dd lots only. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., NEW YORK CURB MARKE ~Prev 1930.— High. Low. Lack: Mid W, M1 Pac W Polymet Pote Selected Starrett 14% - 7 8% 87 9 1% Lon: snnuai payment. *Ex-dividend. Met & Min. Inc(1. Met Edison pf ( Met Chain Stor Midvale Co (4 . Mo Kan P L (b10%). KPLv.te. 4 Natl Amer Co... tl Bond & 8 (25¢c) . Natl Casket pf (7). .. Natl Fam Strs(1.60). Natl Pwr & Lt pf (7) Natl Screen Sve(2).. Newport Co (2) N Y Rio&Bu Al Niag Hud Pwr(new). Niag Hud Pwr.A war Shars Md(40c), Noma Elec (1.60). ... Novad Agene pf (7) Ohilo Copper... Pac G&EL 18t pf 13%. Pandem Oil.. Param’t Cab(b8%) 4 Pennroad Corp (20¢) Penn Mex Fuel (2).. Penna Pwr&Lt pf(7), Perryman Eleo. Petrol Corp war. Philip Morris, Ine. Pilot Radio Tube(A). Pitney B P, n (30¢). Plymouth Oll (2)..ee ro Sugar, Prince & Whitely Pub Util Hold w w. . Rainbow Lu Prod Au Rainbow Lu Prod B., Relter-Foster (40c) Reliance Intl (A). Roan Antelope Min Ryan Consolidated. . St Regis Paper (1).. 4 Salt Creek Prod (2).. Saxet Co. Schulte Rq Sec Corp Gen new (4) Seg Lock & H (50¢) Sentry Safety Cont Snenandoah Corp. .. Shenan Coro pf (a3), Sisto Finance Corp. . South Penn Oil(12%) So Cal Ed pt C (1%). Southern Corp, Stand Holding Corp., Standard Motors Stand Oil, Ind (23%). Stand Oil, KY (11.80) Stand Oil, Neb.(13%} Stand Screw (3). Thatcher Sec,Corp. Thermold Co 'Df (7).. Transamer (31.60) Tri-Cont Corp (war) Tung-Sol Lamp (2)., % Ungerleder F Corp.. Un Nat Gas, Can 1.60 Union Tobacco. ..., Unit Car Fastnr(60c) Utd Founders(b3.35) United Gas Co (n Utd Lt & Pwr pf(6)., Unit Ret Chem (A).. U S Elec Pwr ww U S Lines pf (1 United Wall Paper. Uulity Pwr&Ltal). Utility & Ind. Vacuum O1l (143 ) Viek Financial Walker (H) (1). White Sew M db RIGHTS. Hud Bay M&S July 16 InsCoof NA Oc! Intl Nickel w.. Int Salt. “Received-by Private Wire | Direct to The Star Office | Stock and Bales— Dividend Rate. ~ Add 00. Open. Righ. Kolster-Br (Am Sh). anna Sea(4). Lake Superior Corp. . Land Co of Florida. . Lefeourt Real(11.85) Leonard Oil.......e Loew's. Inc (war)... Lone Star Gas. n (1), Long Isid Lt pf (7).. MacMart Stores (1) - o = B P S o o B L L L L LT L L T T AT T TOUOL- 0y i JIRRTOPG SV Tepupyp Util(b8%). - S @ s » - tern Oil. (o] - Mfg (31 - - i 1ndustri @ 3 D NS MO RS BN Corp. . 3 Por- oo «332 @3 Cor} 8% I 1w 1k Expire hd 2% 10 .3 1 9 2 28 g 2% o % 1% 1% 2 Dividend rates in dollars based on Iast quarterly tPartl; In eash or stock b Payabie in stock. extrs. 1Plus extr d Payal BUSINESS CHANGES FEW DURING WEEK General Upturn Not Yet In- dicated, but Some Gains Are Made. Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, June 28.—The week that has practically closed a half year | of adjustment in the business fleld was without a feature of significance, ac- cording to the trade reviews. There were ‘spurts of ‘activity, but of such small dimensions as to be obscured in the general picture, and where buying has usually quickeried with the begin: ning of the movement of crops, the prices prevailing for grain have re- tarded cven this anticipated seasonal | development. Generally the summaries | agree ‘that no great change 15 o be expected at this season. Gist of Reviews. R. G. Dun & Co.'s weekly review of business says, in part: “Some gains continue to be made in certain quarters, and there even are in- stances of conspicuous activity, but such phases remain the decided excep- tion and are largely obscured in a broad survey of conditions. One of the chief points of strength is the fact that cor- rections of unwholesome elements are taking place, and among the most im- portant of th i of an improved status in supplie: “With a different basis of d d existing now, production at last year's rate obviously could not be sustained, retrenchment in manufacturing bei essential to the working off of accumfi- lated stocks of goods. Hence, curtail- ment of outputs, although always tem- porarily unsettling when of extensive scope, is a necessary part of the present period of rehabilitation and recovery. Throfgh that action a more solid foundation should be laid, with an ulti-| mate check to the prof ted decline in commodity prices. The latter trend has list of wholesale quotations again dis- clcsing a large preponderance of reduc: 22IIBLS! 25233 & tions. Security Prices Depressed. “Actual or prospective unfavorable | earnings reports and dividend declara- tions ve served to sharply depress | terior points reporting as low as 55 to as yet shown no signs of ending, Dun’s | usual ramifications of economic transi- tion having caused a modification of some earlier expectations with regard to its duration. It is considered reas- suring, however, that constructive forces are in operation which should eventually | effect a more definite turn for the bet- ter. “The outstanding feature of the tex- | tile markets has been the persistent movement of prices toward lower levels. That trend has been witnessed both in the raw material division and in manu- factured products, the decline being general. Reflecting the changes in the primary end, eoncessions in retail prices are becoming more common, with stores making attractive offerings in different instances. Meanwhile, consumption has not diminished in the ratio of reduced Producuun, curtailment of outputs hav- ng gone to unusual limits. That con- dition isitrue of the industry, as a whole, although there are natural variations in the extént to which mill operations have been restricted ‘With ~seasonal re- straints now in force, no early change from the present status is indicated.” Retail Buying Retarded. Bradstreet's says, in part: “With the advance toward midyear and the announcements of preparations for extended vacation shutdowns or curtallments in industrial lines, there has been a further quieting of trade distribution, this more particularly vis- ible at retail. In parts of the South- west, where the Winter wheat has be- gun to move, the low prices ruling, in- 65 cents, have a tendency to cause holding out and retard the retail buy- By the Ass Two years ago Three years ago, weekly aver. High (1930). Low (1930) High (1929) Low (1929), Two years ago % Three years ago, weekly High (1930).... Low (1930) aver, prices for securities, but there has been none of the speculative disorder that accompanied last Autumn’s breakdown. After six months of 1930, ous trade Tevival is yet to be High (1929) Low (1929). the un- ing usual as the crops start to mar- ket. ‘Further North there are some re- | ports that the use of the combine has made for an accentuation of the un- employment situation, in that fewer men are being used in harvesting than in earlier years. “In the list of industries reporting quieting down are cotton mills at the South, lumber mills in the Pacific Northwest and in some of the hard- wood districts of the South and furni- ture and hosiery factories. A slight further easing in iron and steel pro- duction is noted in the industry as a ‘whole, exceptional activity in pipe and structural lines being "balanced by smaller takings of automobile steel and accessories, owing to the announced two-week shutdown in July by a num- ber of leading makers.” WEST VIRGINIA CO. INCREASES INCOME West Virginia Water Service Co., a subsidiary ‘of Federal Water Service Corporation, reports gross revenues of $825,293 for the year ended May 31, 1930, as compared with $783,574 for the preceding 12 months. Operating ex- penses, maintenance and taxes, other than Federal income tax, totaled $441,- 809, as against $422237. Gross income amounted to $383,484, which compares ;vlm 932%81,837 for the year ended May 1,8 STOCK AND BOND AVERAGES iated Press. SATURDAY, JUNE 28, STOCKS. + | $771,000,000 of stocks, mostly common SATURDAY, MARKET FOR BONDS Competition of New Issues Has Been Keen in Last Six Months. BY CHARLES F. SPEARE. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, June 28.—There can be little contradiction of the statement that the past six months in the bond market has been the most perplexing and disappointing in a long series of years. The indiffer- ence of prices to & set of conditions fundamental to a strong market can only be partially ex- plained. The length of time necessary for these factors to have an influence 18 a matter of divided opinion. The known fact is that, except for a brief period late in the Winter, investment securities, edxclusik\: i of preferred stocks, S have been sluggish @and have had small daily fluctuations. Month after month they have moved less from a fixed average than in any similar time in the past decade. Bonds traditionally rise when money is cheap, commodities are falling, trade is poor and when there is a bear market in stocks, Money today, both for short and long term, is in greater supply and at lower rates than in years. Com- modities have been falling quite steadily since 1928. From the high point of 1929 to the middle of June a slump approximating 12 per cent has occurred. e top of the year's bond market was reached in March, about two weeks earlier than the crest of the market for stocks. Both were influenced at that time by a glut of funds which forced open market rates for a few days down to 1% per cent. However, since then there has been a general downward revision in Federal Reserve rediscount rates as well as in rates of the central banks of Europe. As liquidation in stock has meanwhile brought tHeir average below that of April and May, and with many individual issues selling under the prices of last November, these two influences should normally have been to the ad- vantage of fixed interest rate securities. Actually, however, bonds today are very much lower than they were in March when both money and stock market conditions were less favorable to them. New Issues Compete. Technically, bonds are not in so strong a position as they were six months ago. This is the effect of a heavy flow of new issues into the mar- ket, competing in price and in volume with those already listed and subject- ing the older issues to more or less unfavorable comparisons, mainly in the matter of income return. It might be possible to dismiss the question of why bonds have failed to respond to cneap money with the single answer that they have been overwhelmed by the new trend in financing since last year. ‘The latest figures available for va- rious kinds of domestic and foreign borrowings in 1030 cover the five |months ending May 31. During that period the aggregate of such borrow- ings was approximately $4,412,000,000. It was the smallest since 1926. The signifiicant feature of it, however, was the expansion in the three items of domestic long and short term bonds and notes, municipal issues and for- eign obligations. Domestic bonds and notes were nrpruxlmluly $2,073,000,000, compared with $1,516,000.000 in 1929, Preferred stocks were a little less than half the volume of the first five months of 1929, and in spite of their popularity and the manner in which they have sustained their Krh:es they were the smallest in a five-year period. The greatest contrast appears In the par amount of domestic common stock, which totaled about $846,000,000, as against $2,245,000,000 in the January- May period of 1929, Decrease in Trust Stocks. If the issues of common stocks are further analyzed, it will be found that a high percentage of the total repre- sents the proceeds of sales by public utility companies. Subdividing these, the offerings by the American Tele- phome & Telegraph Co. of $235,000,000 and other much smaller amounts di- rectly taken by shareholders make up a large figure. Investment trusts and trading corporations, which had issued Speas stock or preferred stock convertible into common, to May 31 last year, had confined their stock sales in the five months of this year to $69,000,000. In- dicating the general situation in the industrial world and as well as the great preference last year for stocks over bonds was the shrinkage of 75 per cent in the shares of industrial and manufacturing companies, while similar conditions in real estate led to a decrease of even more than this in the securities of land and construction companies. It is evident from this comparison of the amount of stocks issued this year and that put out during the first half of 1929 that the burden of providing capital for corporation purposes was thrown on the bond market. The un- digested amounts are those of second and third rate credits which were forced into the market and had been expected to be taken up when the momentum was strong in the Spring. It was esti- mated in June that approximately one- third of the new issues offered since January 1 were still in dealers’ hands and that, in some instances, as much as 40 to 50 per cent of the offering was then unsoid. Below Official Quotations. ‘This raises the question whether the presence of so many bonds on the mar- ket and available at prices really below those quoted for them on official sheets, or the disinclination of the public to invest its money where it will have rel- atively small chance of appreciation, is the primary cause of the bond market's troubles. Nearly every investment house has had the common experience of trying to sell new issues to old clients and finding them uninterested in the proposition. They have been able to distribute large blocks of bonds to the insurance companies whose funds are steadily rising and to savings banks as the deposits of the latter have in- creased and recovered from the effects of last Autumn’'s withdrawals. There is always a substantial buying power among the estates and trustees who cannot invest in stocks. National and State banks and trust companies have eporadically been subscribers for goodly amounts of new issues which promised them early appreciation. In a limited number of cases, however, the individ- ual buyer of bonds has been indifferent to the action of his old favorites among the rails, public utilities and industrials. There is every indication that money rates will be low during the Summer. If the theory is correct that business will begin to improve in the Autumn a money market reflection of this would appear then following the adjustment in Federal Reserve policies to broader commercial demands. Before this time, however, rates are likely to be lower even than they are today. This may only stimulate an increase for short- term securities which have been pre- ferred over long-dated issues to such an extent that there is now & great scarcity of them. (Copyright. 1930.) Skt o o To allow a bird, which had built a nest in a plie of bricks, to hatch im undisturbed, a Romford, England, - €r suspen work on a house until material could be brought from & dis- JUNE 28 1930. FINANCIAL. STOCKS FAIL TO PROVIDE CLUE IN No Guide BY GEORGE T. HUGHES. Special Dispatch to The Sta; NEW YORK, June 28.—1It is easy to be wise after the event and so it sounds plausible now to say that last Autumn's collapse in the stock market was the foreshadowing of the present indus- trial depression. At the time the opin- ion was universally held that the pan- icky selling of Oc- tober and Novem- ber was only the Just retribution for an extravagant and greatly overdone speculation for the rise, participated in on an unprecedent+ ed scale. But now, looking hackward, it is argued that the rharket broke, partly at least, be- cause business had already turned for the worse. ‘The trouble with this theory is that that it explains too much and too lit- tle. If last year's break was a prophecy of business depression, what is to be inferred from the secondary decline in May and June of 19302 Is it to be assumed that there are still greater depths of depression to be probed and that the stock market is sounding a warning to that effect? No one wants to believe that, and as a matter of fact no one does believe it. ‘Then, too, if the stock market is an infallible guide to the future of busi- ness, how did it happen that prices ad- vanced so rapidly in February and March that for a time it looked as though the great bull movement of 1929 was again in progress? We know now that any such interpretation was false. As a matter of fact, the market of the late Winter and early Spring this year was out of step with conditions in industry, as we now hope it is out of step with the prospects for next Fall and Winter. The truth is that the market forecasts the course of business very imperfectly and that the signals given can be read accurately only in retrospect. Over a longer period, prices of stocks conform to changes in values, but at any one time they may be much ahead of or much behind those changes. Averages Tell the Story. ‘The story of the past six months is best summarized in the averages. Tak- ing the Standard Statistics industrial price index, which stood at 170.2 on January 2 last—1926 being taken as 100—the market reached the peak on April 10, at 2024. In those three months there were two minor reac- tions, one culminating on January 17, when the index was 166.5, and one cul- minating on February 20, when the reading was 175. It will be noticed that the point of resistance at the end of February ‘'was materially higher than that of mid-January, which was taken as a favorable indication by the spec- ulative element. The first important setback from the April high came in May, when the average dropped to 177.2, still above the February low. Then in the second- week in" June, the larger break carried the figure back to 170.4, or only a fraction of a point above ‘where it started in January. In other words the market, in the middle of the sixth month, had canceled all its gains since the first of the year. In a general way the story told by the railroad averages is similar. It is unnecessary to give it in detail because speculation nowadays runs 8o largely to tg: industrials. During the first quar- ter the movement was roughly upward and during the second quarter it was downward. All the time th: market had to contend with a steady iecline in commodity prices, a continunus Ialling off in railroad traffic and income state- ments which in the majority of cases made unfavorable comparison with these of the same period of the pre- ceding year. In its favor it had only an excessive money supply and consequent low rates. The renewed and violent decline of the third week in June is fresh in every one's mind. It took the averages back to within striking distance of the No- vember low. On June 18 50 industrials sold at 153, or more than 17 points un- der the level of January 2. Impor- tant stocks, including United States Steel, made new lows for the year and the lack of resistance emboldened the bear party. From a purely technical point of view however, the significant thing was the decpease in volume on each successive slump. More and more the offerings were coming from short sellers and less and less they were due to the closing out of impaired margin accounts. At no time during the third week was there any concerted effort to support the market. It was -allowed to take care of itself. It was not the pressing of stocks on the market that sent it plunging downward so much as the lack of demand. Every favorable development was ig- nored and every unfavorable one em- phasized. It looked as if there was no stopping of the downward movement and the short account grew steadily larger daily. This is what happens, although in reverse order, at the height of a bull campaign. When stocks are rising it seems as if there is no top and there are always more buyers the peak level and more sellers at the minimum than at any other time. It is a condition that invariabily precedes a turn and this turn comes regardless of business or trade or anything else. Stocks cannot go continuously in one direction. Trees never grow to the sky and it always stops raining some time, Confidence Shaken in April. The turn in April came with the realization that the business depression was more pronounced than it had ap- peared and that the results on earn- ings were likely to be more serious than had been expected. The two tangible developments that shook confidence were, first, the slump in railroad traf- fic, and, second, the cut®in the price of copper metal. Taking up the latter first, copper had been quoted early in 1929 at 24 cents a pound, from which figure it dropped to 18 cents and was held there for a year. It was held un- changed all during the decline in other commodities and toward the end of the period at a time when demand from consumers was at the vanishing point, ‘Then on April 15 of this year the price was eut at one blow to 14 cents. Even this failed to stimulate business to the extent desired, and in the first week of May there was another cut of a cent more, and a few days later a reduction of & half cent further, at which point a wave of foreign buying began, sufficient to bring about record sales for export account. In late June the price was 8haded again, as surplus stocks piled up faster than buyers would take them. Of course, the result at first was sharply lower prices for copper shares d, secondly, lower dividends to share- holders. The effect was not confined to the stocks of "the corporations immedi- ately: concerned. It was an unsettling influence throughout the whole market. The attempt to maintain an artificial price for the metal was doomed to fail- ure from the start. Every such attempt has ended in disaster sooner or later. To a degree, the market had anticipated 'h‘:nlcwl‘lly hl])pen‘:;i b¥ Ih):epuku sagging of price of the copper stocks, so that they were selling on a higher yield basis than any other group, but it had not discounted the outcome fully. Economists had predicted that what had failed in cou-to in r:bct:-r. in 8 -namely, an unnatural price con- trol—would méet defeat in copper, b, less, §§ was a blow fo the mars George T. Hughes. MIXED BUSINESS SITUATION arket During Last Six Months Held Reflection of Present, but to Future. ket as a whole abandoned. Slump in Railroad Traffie. | _The slump in railroad traffic was one of the most severe on record. For the first four months of 1930 gross earnings of class 1 roads were down approxi- | mately 10!, per cent from those of 1929, and net cpentln’ income in the same period was off 337, per cent. Net was the lowest since 1922. The reason that the loss in net was so much larger relatively than that in gross was the effort of the railroads to avoid cutting down maintenance in conformity with President Hoover's plan to avert un- employment. This policy was partially reversed in the late Spring and early Summer, as car loadings continued to fall off Rallioad stocks broke badly in April and declined to the lowest Mels of the year in June. They had at no time been objects of such confident specu- lation for the rise as had the utilities and the industrials, but that did not help them much. So far as the stocks themselves go, they had other handi- caps marketwise than the immediate earnings outlook. The threat of com- petition from the automotive vehicle, passenger and truck alike; the strict regulation by the Federal Government in the matter of rates and a political attitude that was none too friendly diminished the investment demand that ought to have supported the shares when they were selling so much below their highs of last year and at so_at- tractive a price-earnings ratio. This | situation is well fllustrated by a study |of the portfolios of investment trusts, in which rallroad stocks were shown to when the attempt was NEW RECORDS ST N CLRB TRADING Market Has Followed Erratio Course Since Beginning of Year. BY JOHN A, CRONE. Special Dispatch to The 8¢ NEW YORK, June 28—The New York Curb Exchange, despite the lassie tude of security markets in the first six monghs of 1030, set two world records and broke several of ts own, thereby provinz the wis- dom of three big expansion steps underteken this year; namely, the establishment, of & money post, the erection of a new building, and the steady development of the quotation service, which soon will adont the high-speed ticker, The excha surpassed all world tn(;lnl record:niol! ~E. dealing in a single JORN A. CRONE. " ocurity on June 13, when 1,564,40C Cities Service rights changed hands on a cash basis. The previous record, also made on the Curb, was 1,151,900 Cities Service common , shares, cn October 24, 1929. The biggest initial transaction on any exchange occurred on June 14, when 250,000 Citiew Service rights appeared on the tape. This compared with the previous opening record of 225,000 Cities Service common shares, on Noe vember 4, 1920. The cash involved im these rights transactions was incone be only a small fraction of the total, which was largely made up of indus- trials, utilities and bank shares. Growth ‘of Freight Slows. Just to make the point a little stronger, a .recent statement in the Rallway Age, the recognized organ of the industry, may be quoted. After pointing out that the rallroads have lost one-third of their passenger busi- ness since 1920, the journal adds: “An equally Important fact which is not well known is that in this same pe- riod there has been an unprecedented decline in the growth of railway freight business. From 1900 to 1910 the num- ber of tons of freight loaded, on the steam lines increased 73 per cent. From 1910 to 1920 the corresponding increase | was 22 per cent, while from 1920 to 1929 the increase was but 612 per cent. On an actual rather than a relative basis, the increase in tonnage loaded averaged 43,000,000 tons a year in the first period shown above, 23,000,000 tons a year in the second period and only 9,100,000 tons annually in the last nine years.” Speculation for the rise does not con- cern itself ordinarily with securities representative of a trade or industry which is not in a position to expand. Such securities may make good invest- ment material, but they give no specu- lative thrill. It was the subconscious realization of this condition which cut down volume of trading in railroad stocks, not only in the first six months of this year, but all through last year. In 1929 there were merger propositions to stimulate interest, but even these were lacking in 1930. Although price mevements of the rails are not so rep- resentative of the market as those of the industrials nowadays, nevertheless the drop in car loading had a depress- ing effect on all kinds of stocks. Market Shivers Over Commodities. Periodically throughout the _six months under review the market shiv- ered in apprehension over the com- modity situation. The case of copper has already been mentioned, but sugar, rubber, silk, tin and the grains were in the same bost. Wall Street never liked the Farm Board program, but it was content_to look for results and not to ue about theories. The results agri- culturally, as every one knows, were dis- appointing in the extreme. In June both whe:S and cotton were selling at the lows of the year. The situation marketwise then, as it existed in mid-June, was that the in- dustrial averages were back about where they had been on the first of Jahuary. The bear party, emboldened by its suc- cesses of the two preceding months, was boasting it would put the market back to the lows of the preceding November. Some stocks did sell under the lows of | the 1929 panic, as for instance, Mont- gomery Ward, Auburn Auto, Anaconda and various other coppers, but nearly. always there was a special reason for the weakness. The market, however, was never in any such position in 1930 as it had been in the Fall of 1929. Public participa- tion was fairly heavy in March and early April, but it was reduced to & minimum in the second quarter. On May 5, the day of the first big break, shares to the number of 83279,200 changed hands, but when the list turned downward a second time in June and made an even lower average, it was on a much smaller volume. Between these two breaks there weres sessions of ex- treme dullness, when brokers were hard put to make expenses. Market Better Fortified. On June 1 the ratio of security loans to market value of all listed stocks on the New York Exchange was 6.33 per cent. This same ratio in 1929 was around 9 per cent. On June 11 of this year brokers' loans were under the $4,000,000,000 mark, Whereas on June 12, 1929, they were $5,284,000,000. There is no such weak long account to shake out now as there was then, nor anything approaching it. This does not mean that stocks will not go down, but it does mean that there will not be such widespread suffering as there was last year and that each successive wave of selling will meet greater resistance. It remains to consider the effect upon the investment mind of the weakness in the stock market. If there was any- thing new about last year's bull market. anything that differentiated it from speculations for the rise in other years, it was the wide acceptance gained by the theory that investment in common stocks was not only more profitable as compared with bonds, but was more desirable, in that it compensated for a depreciating dollar and, given sufficient diversification, it was just as safe. Has that viewpoint changed? Does the with- drawal of the public from the stock market mean that hereafter fixed in- terest bearing securities are to regain their former popularity? Evérything Waits on Business. The answer must be in the negative and the proof lies in the bond market. Every fundamental factor favored rising prices for bonds during the first six months of 1930. Interest rates were very low and commodity prices were back where they were, approximately, in 1921, The stage was all set for a major ad- vanca in high-grade bonds and yet in. dividual investor interest in that market was non-existent. It received its only support from dealers and from financial Institutions. Testimony of all in a po- sition to know was that the savings of the people were not going into bonds, but were being held back for a favorable opportunity to buy stocks. This back- log of funds will some day turn the market about. g Meanwhile, everything waits on busi- ness. As was said in the beginning of this article, the market 7. not to be taken too seriously as an indicator of the fu- ture of trade. Certainly it is not to be taken that way today. Rather it is re- flecing the immediate situation® and flecting the immediate situation and condition on every successive decline, a condition where it will respond to fa- vorable trade news when, and if, such news comes. (Copyright, 1830.) <88 .. sequential, Curb Tops Big Board Again. ‘The Curb, for the second time in itd history, outdistanced Stock Exchangd d"u“f on June 14, wien trading, including the 1,186,300 Cities Serve ice units, totaled 1,157,800 lr: Just a year earller to the di the Curb ‘passed the “big board” in volume through handling 1,032,400 shares of Commoawealth & Southern Corporation. Lstablishment of a call money mar+ ket on the exchange floor on April 23 made it easier to put up Curb securities for collateral and widened potential margin purchases o? such issues. Come menting on this important development, President William & Muller of the Curb Exchange, in response to questions, gave the following statement to this ters “Since the establishment of ths money desk, money -conditions havi been easy, and for that reason our loan market may not have received a fair test. Nevertheless, since the first day, when $20,000,000 was offered by tha banks on Curb collateral, there has been a steady stream of money available to borrowers, About 95 per cent of the banks and trust companies now are cos operating with the exchange, and al< though only $1,000,000 is being borrowed daily, this amount will be increased vastly when activity is resumed. L “The money desk is now taking care of only 25 per cent of the loans mads for all Curb brokers, aud. although we do not expect that our call money mar« ket will revolutionize lmmedin.elLt.hl old method of doing business with - ing houses, we feel that many of our members who are desirous of continuing their private banking arrangemen:s eventually will borrow at the desk. Banks Accept 600 Curb Stocks. “There are 1450 d!vidmd-plm stocks traded in on the Curb. Al 600 of these have been approved &f satisfactory collateral for bank loans However, in time the money-loaning function on the Curb floor should almost as complete as is the org: all money market on the Stock Exy nge. We still maintain a differen« of 1, per cent above the quol ate on the Stock Exchange, but it a debatable question whether this dif+ ferential will be maintained as the call money market continues to grow. ‘The erection of the new 14-story ads dition to the present Curb Building now well under way, amd the ticker service was extended to 10 im4 rtant cities during the half w ringing the number of major served to 110. If the 1929 market could be likened tq a ship speeding through calm watery or buffeted by squalls, storms and sea+ quakes, the early Summer inactive mars ket'might with equal accuracy be lik. ened to “a painted ship on a painted ocean.” The largest 1930 session date, on May 5, totaled only 2,540,4 shares, which compares with 7,096,304 on October 29, 1929, and 3,046,400 shares on November 28, 1928, largest sessiond in their respective years. Diminutives rather than superlativeq portray trading volume this year. Thy smallest session, on January 22, regiss tered only 450900 shares. This coms pares with 820,700 shares on April & 1029, and 222,366 shares on July 30, 1928, the slowest days of those years. The Course of the Market. Opening the vear nearly 20 per cen{ above the extreme lows of the previows November, Curb stock prices selectively moved upward until mid-April, wm they halted, hesitated for 10 days, then plunged to low levels, from which they staggered during most of May, only to tumble again early in June. ‘Then in the third week of June camq the worst break of the year. One of the worst sessions during this selling move: ment was on June 18, when out issues traded in 458 showed net declin for the day and 50 net gains, while 1 were unchanged. In tl session 204 new low prices for the year or longel were recorded. Unlike the May break however, volume in the mid-June slumgp slackened as prices declined. The six most active Curb stocks, iy order named, were Electric Bond Share, Cities Service, Niagara-Hudsoi Power, American Superpower, Units Gas Corporation new and Transamericy Corporation. Popularity of utilities, ofis and natural gas shares, in view of industrial devels opments, occasioned no surprise, buying of Transamerica reflected de, mand for that particular stock rathey than that type of security. Federal Trade Commission investiga, tions several times chilled the market's ardor for utilities, but. mergers an prospective combinations, along with ins creased production and nings, evey though not as large proportionately in recent years, offset the influence :} official inquiries. Petroleum securities always ha bulked large on the Curb, where ma of the Standard Oil issues are lists Dividend disbursements on Stan Ofl shares totaling $135,375,059, a $120,155,090 in the first half of 1929 established a new high record. Favor able oil dividend actions resulted from complete co-operation in crude oil eurs tailment, the big expansion of the nat ural gas industry and the amazing gasos line consumption. Gas Shates New Leaders. Natural gas shares, as dominant this year's new security turnover were investment trust, airplane and ras dio issues, respectively, in the threy preceding first half-year periods, promw ise to be speculative leaders in the comu ing six months. The natural gas im dustry has fired the speculative imagl nation. Creation of the biggest nat« ural gas company in the world—thy United - Gas Corporation—stimulateq merger negotiations. Demand for naty ural gas, either pure or mixed with artificial gas, has caused pipe-line cons structfon off a scale never before wits nessed. Oil concerns, noting this insis tent natural gas demand, now plan hi pipe-line systems to carry fuel oil industrial centers. Mild Winter weathey adversely affected natural gas profits. (Copyrizht, 1930.)