12 SEPTEMBER 1946, Page 4

There is no call to be unduly censorious over the

B.B.C.'s incursion into the field of finance last week, but it must have resulted in at least a temporary diminution of a great many people's capital by a considerable sum. After the original Wall Street slump there Was on Wednesday a distinct rally. But on Wednesday evening the B.B.C., in its 9 o'clock news bulletin, turned on, not a financial authority but their New York correspondent, to explain what was happening. He unfortunately described not Wednesday's rally but Tuesday's slump, to the tune of such phrases as that " suddenly the whole edifice [of high prices] has coine 'tumbling down." The inevit- able result on the London Stock Exchange the next morning was a fresh wave of selling, and a general itiarking down of your securities and mine. They will no doubt recover, but whether B.B.C. market comment is a departure to be welcomed is open to some doubt. The Stock Exchange Committee, I am not surprised to see, holds decided views on the subject. * ' * * -