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Show CURB RECOVERS, WITH I SPECIALTIES LEADING J. A- Hogle & Co., 169 South' Main street, furnish the following digest of financial news, received over their private pri-vate wires: St. Louis lead, $6.556.60; spelter, higher; high-er; spot and May, $6.656.75; July, $G.77 6.S2. Twenty industrials, 77.51, off .28. Twenty rails, 7S.18. off .18. Financial News: Unsettling rumors of new market restrictions having proved to be fakes, the news from France being better bet-ter than yesterday morning and the United States Steel dividend action and quarterly earnings report being better than generally expected, it would seem that reasons are provided for irregular recovery in the market, led by specialties. special-ties. Government contracts for 1025 locomotives locomo-tives have been awarded to Baldwin and American Locomotive plants at $60,000,000. Special meeting of Brooklyn Rapid Transit has been called for May 23' to consider issuance of 8150,000,000 of bonds. Annual meeting of Canadian Pacific railway at Montreal today. Copper prducers to discuss with war industries in-dustries board In Washington today the question of price to be established July 1. Anaconda Copper earnings lower; earns 29.44 per cent; profit and loss surplus now exceeds $62,000,000, an increase of $14,-513,127. $14,-513,127. American Smelting & Refining declared regular quarterly dividend of 1 per cent on common, payable June 13 to stockholders stockhold-ers of record May 24, and a regular dividend divi-dend of 1 per cent on preferred. The American Tobacco company declared de-clared quarterly dividend of 5 per cent on common, payable in scrip; dates, June 1 a.nd May 15. Earnings of Steel made K very creditable credita-ble showing and the view is entertained In some quarters that the second quarter's quar-ter's earnings will show material increase in-crease over the first. This in part explains ex-plains the buying of United States Steel shares and Is stimulating the demand in other parts of the steel group. Pullman company lias received an order from the railway administration for 6000 box cars and 1500 hopper cars. New York Stock Letter: Dividend ordered or-dered on Steel common and net earnings for first quarter of the company, an-nonced an-nonced after the close Tuesday, were topics of discussion today. Earnings of the company were much better than generally gen-erally expected, but the fact that the earnings of the last month of the first quarter showed a gain over January and February quite naturally fostered the belief be-lief that the earnings of the company for the current quarter will be material y better than for the first, and practically assured a continuance of the dividend payments ordered yesterday on the common com-mon shares. Interest quite naturally centered cen-tered in the steel group and demand of significance for same said to be present throughout greater part of the session, more conspicuously so in the last hour. Another siguifleant development today was the reported advance by the government gov-ernment to carriers of money approximating approxi-mating $90,000,000. The apparent hesitancy hesi-tancy of the government in announcing the above before this quite naturally restricted re-stricted a broad demand for the rails, but in some quarters it is believed that the action taken and announced today may be the forerunner of similar treatment to be accorded the carriers generally In the fu- tUn' seemed to be the accepted belief in conservative quarters that the course to be pursued by the government in respect re-spect to carriers on rental contracts will be constructive in meaning, both as regards re-gards the effect on railroad security prices and the investment situation m general. Barring unforeseen unfavorable developments In the battle area, it is highly probable that prices in steel and rail groups will incline toward betterment better-ment rather than otherwise. |