WISE INVESTMENT
WHEN to the normal. deterrents of the holiday season are added fresh rumblings in the Far East and yet another crisis of the franc, none but the gayest of optimists can profess to be surprised that stock markets are again becalmed. That markets are calm and not disturbed by the constant threatenings of international politics is really reassuring and underlines once more the soundness of the technical position. If speculators are still reluctant to let out sail, investors are equally determined not to jettison their existing holdings. The obvious inference is that security prices will move within a comparatively narrow range unless and until some genuinely important change takes place.
Meanwhile, the ready subscription of new offers of industrial shares whenever the terms look reasonably attractive is a reminder that there is plenty of money awaiting investment after the period of quietude which set in in April. The June figures of oversea trade are also encouraging in the light they throw on the investment picture. Imports are still rising but so are our exports, a remarkable achievement in face of tariff barriers, exchange handicaps and the virtual blockage of certain markets in consequence of closed economic systems. The growth of both imports and exports is as much a reflection of higher prices as of larger quantities, but is still significant from the investor's standpoint. Higher prices for our imports spell better times for the primary pro- ducing countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaya and the South American countries. The rise in export prices means that many industrial groups in this country are not merely expanding the volume of their oversee trade but are securing the business on a more profitable basis.
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