28 MARCH 1931, Page 40

Finance—Public & Private

The Investment Outlook

IN view of the heavr decline* Which has. taken place over a long period in some of the stocks and shares of great industries such as our railways, shipping companies, iron and steel and coal undertakings, and the shares of some of the great. textile companies, I am asked from time to time whether these shares should be acquired at the present low level. It is argued, and with some reason, that trade depression cannot last for ever, that there is a limit even to the ,fall. in prices of commodities, that in some directions there are already indications of stocks of commodities having run very low, while it is sometimes suggested that a revival of activity in the United States should be due. by or before the end of the year, and that its effect should be world-wide.