Stock Market

As birds at some unseen rumpus in the air dart from tree to tree, members of the New York Stock Exchange last week dashed from post to post in restless frenzy to buy, to sell. When one day was done and there had subsided the wild scream of men shouting diversely, they found that they had dealt with 3,228,300 shares.

The day done, officials of the Exchange made an announcement bare and ominous --the amount of money loaned to brokers had risen to $4,432,907,321, a sum so vast that brokers slept uneasily, fearing that money vendors might suddenly demand repayment of loans or blandly ask for higher interest payments.

So next day was one of wild dropping of stock around the trading posts. A group of 25 railroad stocks declined on the average 33-c- a share; a group of 25 industrial stocks declined on the average $2.19 a share. And when all was done the brokers counted 3,384,980 shares handled.

It was the second time in Exchange history that two consecutive days were 3,000,000-share days. The previous occurrence had been March 2, 1926 (3,031,173 shares) and March 3, 1926 (3,786,111 shares). On no day has the March 3, 1926 trading been exceeded.

President Coolidge learned of the stock market uneasiness and promptly expressed his belief that the brokers' loans constituted no real danger to the country's credit situation. Next day the market steadied itself and continued steady on following days. Average prices rose.