Stutz Reappears

The receipt by the New York Stock Exchange of an application from the Stutz Motor Car Co. of America to have its 263,000 shares restored to trading on its floor brings vivid memories of the circumstances in 1920 under which Stutz was ” stricken from the list” of the Exchange. After a decline in motor shares in February, 1920, Allan A. Ryan cornered the Stutz stock. Its price rose swiftly to 391 on March 31, 1921, when the Exchange authorities, having ascertained the existence of the ” corner,” suspended dealings in it there. After various conferences between Mr. Ryan and the Exchange officials, Stutz was stricken from the list April 15, 1920. Mr. Ryan finally settled with the unhappy “shorts” at $550 per share, but found himself with all the stock and no market for it, either on the Exchange or on the Curb.

In the spring of 1922, Mr. Ryan, already faced with his impending bankruptcy,sold at public auction 132,914 of the 150,000 shares of Stutz which he then held. The purchaser was the Guaranty Trust Co., which later sold the stock to a syndicate composed of Charles M. Schwab and others for $20 a share—the price at which it had been auctioned. Mr. Schwab has since that time been in control of the company.

After its disappearance from the Exchange list, Stutz was dealt in upon the Curb, where it has been selling recently for about $14 a share.