WISE INVESTMENT
I HOPE investors spared themselves the trouble and the pain of discovering the ways of Wall Street during the holiday break, but the dismal story must now be faced. This fresh fall makes it clearer than ever that the investor or speculator who hitches his wagon to the stars and stripes is running big risks. The sad thing is that at one, two or more removes, almost every investor who holds equity shares is tied to America's industrial future. The latest figure of steel pro- duction, dismaying as it is, would not necessarily be tragic if there were fresh signs of co-operation between Washington and Big Business, but it now , seems that after having come closer together, the Administration and the industrial leaders are drifting apart. Apparently, President Roosevelt is anxious to achieve recovery but is determined, for political reasons, not to have anybody believe that recovery has been thrust upon him. So the battle continues, and hopes of a quick and sustained improvement in the United States are correspondingly dimmed.
One can only pin one's faith in the basic common sense of the President and the urgency of stimulating employment to prevent this conflict of social ideals from being waged over the mutilated body of world trade. Personally, I still believe that American business will pull round in 1938 but how soon nobody can tell. Meantime, I must repeat the now familiar advice to genuine investors to tread warily.
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