THE SHARE MARKET.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 88, 7 January 1908, Page 8

THE SHARE MARKET.

• .The Wellington Stock Exchange ; resumed . ■■ business yesterday, and'at the. sitting .there " was not much trading. 'This, of course, was ■ to have been expocted, for the holiday influence is' still felt, and will bo felt-for a week or two yet. Furthermore, it is to be feared that a; certain amount of money generally used for ; ; . investment, purposes is now locked up- with ( , the Building Societies. , These institutions , have,' without beat of: drum or blare of trum-. , pet, raised their deposit rates.to. per. cent, t'• for twelve' months, and:,3^ : vper. cent.-, for sis ■ ■ .: 1 months, and have naturally attracted some ; of .'( . the idle credits. .- Rightly construed, thismean's, 'c ' , that money is dearer, because, if these institu* | r v . tions have to pay a higher rate of deposits, ; they must of necessity charge a higher rate for. 1 : ■ loans. "-Some are inclined to the view that !; this is merely a temporary expedient, and that ■ now . with. the easing of money in London, r. ' there will be,a' cheapening of •.the'.:rate ( s -heje,- ! ■ That remains to bo seen, but, in any caSe; if ; the: seauence'is to be followed, the rates .ui; Australia must advance to correspond with the; ' advance in London, and then fall. • There was, as already stated, nonbusiness; !■: 1 done in investment shares. There' were. several .... selling qubtations, i.but only two buying offers. There were seller^'.of National Bank'shares. at -£5 7s.,'Bank of New Zealands at £9 165.; Wellington-Deposit at 10s., Christchurch Gas at £10 2s. 6d., Christchurch Meat at £10, 12s. : 6d., Leyland-O'Brien Timber at 455. fldy.Mira-;; ' , mar preference at 235., and New Zealand 1 and 1 River Plate at 295. 9d. There were buyers of the latter at 295. 3d., and 435.. was bid for. Jlanawatu Kails. ' v THE MINING MARKET. The market openedVwith, buoyancy.'".Theie' was a strong tone in' Auckland, and this was reflected in Wellington. Talismans-,clumped hands at 525., Wellington shareholders inspected "the Talisman mine during the/holidays, and have, re-. " turned fully convinced that the mine is'a'good one,'better than .they imagined. 'There.was a firm tone for Wnihis, and the scrip of .'the smaller companies, was. in. i .good i .demapd,. i .',The movements in the-''mining market yesterday, are disclosed in the table appended:— ' ■, . I Buyers. Sellers. Sales. . :.. ■ - £s. d. £s. d. £s. d. Talisman ... ... 212 0 213 0 2 12- 0 Waihi . ... ..iw.B 5 0 .8. 7 G - .. i Taii-ua Triumph ..'.' 6" 2 6 0 2 9 — Ngatiawa 0 111 — — l --.. Karangahake ...-0-1-10 02 1 — . CANTERBURY FROZEN MEIT COMPANY! i \ The balance-sheet of the Canterbury Frozen ; ' Meat Company for the year ended November SO. last shows that the net profit earned totalled .£20,580 65., to which has to be added '3s.'lOd. brought forward from the' previous year;making a total of .£27,'327.95;'-10d.'' .Qf this sum .£SOOO has been ■ written off works account, £8000 has been transferred to the reserve fund, and .£556 16s. 4d. has been added to the Accident Insurance Fund, raising- that fund, to £2000.. The dividencl on,the preference ,shares, at the. rate of 6.-per cent-, -aridthe dividend at:-the.'Tate of rß;.'perV.cent,i'\pnJ the ordinary shares absorbs £6698 45., leaving £572 Ss. 6d.to be carried forward. The reserve fund of tlfe Company now stands at £30,113. The auditor's.'certificate—which reads,, "I hereby certify':that'l ;have .'examined tho. •: books,'vouchers, and accounts of the Canter- ; , bury Frozen-Meat and Dairy Produce Export Company, Limited, and compared them with the above balance : sheot, and 1 find;:-.'th'e <same.' correct"—does' not strike : us- as b'eitig' iii full accord with the-provisions laid down in the Companies Act, 1903. Sub-section 2 of Clause 135 reads: "The 'auditors shall sign a certifi- . cate at the foot of the balance-sheet stating whetlier or not all-their requirement's'-iis aludfc tors have been complied with, and shall niake • a report to the members on the accounts examined by them and . on eyery laid before the company in...general nicetiig , : during their tenure of-.office." '' '' * "■■■■" s Sub-section 3 reads:;'.-" In, '.every .such .report t . the auditors shall -'state ' whethorj in/ their ) V opinion, the balance.-sheet-. referred., to in „tho f report is properly drawn up so' Sis to exhibit a true and" correct view of the state of tho company's affairs as-.shown by the books, of the company; and such-report .shall .be ..read before tlio company ,|n general . meeting." The auditor's certificate quoted ab'ovo doe's not fulfil tho obligations imposed-.,-by tho. : 'Act,;..it does not state explicitly that the,balancesheet "is properly drawn up..so., as t.o exhibit , a true and correct view of-' the" state ' of' the' company's affairs." No doubt the balance- [ i ' sheet does so exhibit, and the auditor should have said so. HEMP AND WOOL.. ,; ~ v The hemp market refuses to recoVerr- --''The market prospects are uncertain, and transactions are moderate,',' reports the High Commissioner. Good'fair grade, on spot, is quoted i at £28 10s.; or. £10 less than..at the corresponding date of last year; and January-March shipments arc how at £27 10s., as against £37 ss. a year ago. How much dqnger,. millers are going to stand by their, hopes of se'eihg.the market recover, is a matter that cannot be determined, but their obvious duty is to see what economies can be effected in the costs of production so that even the present.low price will yield them a profit. With respect to wool, the High Commissioner states that theri; i-s a better demand, and prices aro firm. The first of the series of LoiidqnvyaJ.es.;; begins pfl, January 21, by which date the demand may have improved sufficiently to see sonie slight recovery in values. / FROZEN.. MEAT." "' ' The frozen meat market continues unsatisfactory, and we have . the admission, of the High Commissioner i that there - arc - la rge»sup- ' plies of River Plate mutton, which is being strongly pushed for sale. Compared with a year agp the prices are as under:— - 1907. . 1908. d. d. .

Canterbury mutton ... ' ... 4} ... • 3J North Island mutton : 4J ... 3J. Iliver Plate mntton ... ... 3} ... 3 Australian lamb ... ... 5 ... N.Z. beef, ox hinds ...'3} :3jj; N.Z. beef, ox fores ... 3} ... 2j Thero' is a general decline in values, and there is no prospect of any improvement, because supplies aro increasing, while, " owing, to the recession in industrial activity,-'■•the'de-mand has slackened. The freezing companies must !xs feeling* the't, changed conditions. When the season pnencd in November last the ah-

— :—: —: — 'surdly 'Ki^h';prico -of 17s. was paid ! for shorn .wethorß (On ; the -initiation of Hatfko's Bay and ■Ta'ranaln ,l oporat6rs7'ldtei' on'vtho pnee was. reduced to 15s. Gd.,l.and the companiesfgenerally will-, lose fr6m '2s;' fid. ■ to '3s. a- head'on their November-December., shipments.-:'Tlia present priSe'. cannot ,bc ' m'aintaihbd, ■ and-. sooner or later' the value of the shorn; wether in, the paddock must .como down to'/135.: or 13s. 6d. ■ pjilyus. mpat .'wpol,,tallow, and i>clts v are also. on. a lower j>rice, Icvol, and the companies musi rediice their'bid's'iinlc^s ! they choose to run unusual risks and lose a lot of A 'lfall. in'the-price of -sheep will hit tho farmers vpry; severely. •' The-November ' ■ price was • a l 'fictitious ono,-aid-many farmers .bought stores on that .basis.'-Now. it is most "likely that thoy will get/no morG for tho . ■ fattened., sheep than-.was.. paid : for the storos. ■ u mount ; morg'an;proflt W ; ~t ~..j,. ',. x , Brisbane, G.' profits.-from tjiertlount'MPi-gan'miiio for W^J^^h^^r«it , 'tot»lKd' ' LONDON MARKETS.-.- • ■ ' " er TILEGEAFH—TEISS ASSOCIATION —COPIRIOHT. LoNnosi, January 5. Copper—On spot, -' ,£GI 10s.; three months, I "' ,"«•[. I- ' spot, Jsliß three months, £119 Lead, JEl4'los:' ~ . Silver, 2s. lid. T ~ Antimony, JBB 10s! to 4 X 9. , Galvanised iron—Best brands, >£1510s.; second '.Brands;.;,:JEl4T.ls6. _ '. I ', . -'Pin- plates—l;.Cj(toke,-13s. 7id.; I.C. char!coal,,J4s.iTsd..:;3^;i&u*: . ' , ■ Fencing wire—JS6 12s. Gd. . , , •i Gd. : . -Atglei-steel and-tramway rails, JSS ss. ' Cement—First-brand, (l Gs. 3d.; secondary, ss. ;:-lOd.f. Shares—Waihi-,Gold,ijbuyers 3s. 9d., sellers . :65....3d. i-i-Waihi. Grand, Junctiony buyers. 17s.'. Gd., sellers 225. Gd. ~ r.Copra—Slon', I Spflth-.,Sea, ■Linseed oil,* 255. Now Zealand hemjP-Firm. December-January . shipment, £S! ■ 10s, .'. . - Kauri' —In' stock, -GSS cases, r ■ 'steddj', with in upward tendency. ■ . - ' '/Frozen mutton—Light, '3 14-IGd.T medium, 31d.; heavy, 33d.; Southland,-, hone offering, North Island, 3id.; best brands, 33d. New Zealand lamtß-Csnterbury, light, Sid.; 1 .medium/" 51d.; '>;he'ai?y; ;sd.;'>Southland, sjd.j ; '-'North Island; 1 5jd. ; .-' i a *! -, 'New Zealand beef—Ox fores, 2jd.; ox hinds, 3Jd.l WmW-.'iSr. a ' River Plate 3d.; light, BJd.. River . Plato beef—Fores", 2 11-16 d.; hinds, '• a,.; 'WW . ' HIGH COMMISSIONER'S. .CABLE. . . The Department of Industries''and Commerce has...received tho following cable; from the . ;High' ! ''.Cotiiriiisslorier, a -'dated January 4 :—' " •' " NoV " 1 Zealand ' "Mutton is in very limited ;■ supply, the market is weak arid inactive; ' as th'cre large supplies of- River Plate ; mutton, wliich"is" being strongly pushed for ' sale ...at. ,3d.. .per-'-lb. No immediate change '' in the'mirket ;is'expected. Tho current quota- !• tions' aro'i—Canterbury, 3}d.; North Island, ' 31d.; , A , u'straliari''multdli;''-Sjd. per lb. . - "Australian lamb-' is-- : in large supply, but is l . mixed quality, and is quoted at 4Jd. ' 'perl'lbi Tliere.is. a good demand for prime I 'quality-lamb. > " The'beet' market remains very flat, and sup- ■ plies of River Plate beef aro heavy. New ■ Zealand beef is quoted at 3Jd. for hindquarters, ! for forequarters per lb. -AS Tho-butter ;;ih'ixl:ket;i'6mairis firm, and there ) is a general and active demand. Light ship- - ments are expected. Choicest New Zealand is i quoted at 1195.; Australian, ,1165.; Argentine, f 117s'.'i' ,DanisKJ r .l24's;J ,r {i'n"d Siberian, 112s. per " t ~'..The..cheese .market-remains firm, with an • ."n'pwaiji lendency." White make is quoted at j Gls., and coloured at 625. ■ per cwt. t ' ■ Tfie -'hemp-' market" is' steady; but market j prospects are uncertain, and transactions are f moderate;' : Good''fair: grade on spot is quoted j at J228 10s.; fair grade in same position, .£27 'iOs';";.'Xanuar.v-Mdrch''''.'sKipmerits, -. good, fair 3 gra'de; 10s:; ■ fair'-gratle, JK7; fair current ...manila, per tori.' ■' r e ,% cocl;sF6o , t , 'secd' , ih'arket is very firm, and l no immediate change is expected. There arc light'-.stocks .on,, hand', and tlie quotation is , 765. per cwt. 171b.;" bright dressed seed. There is a better demdnd for wool, and prices ' are firm. LONDON BUTTER PRICES. ■ : (BT;' IELEGEAPII-xSPEOIAt, CORItESPONDBNT.) - .... J .I?A,i,KEr[s.TpN North, January G. ■ - The lnatiagemcnt of' the New Zealand Dairy :1 Farmers' Union, has received word that the - -.butter shipped by the Rtiapehu realised 118s. i\" per 'cwt.'," and "that 'Consigned by the Arawo t 120s.