MARKET TENDE NCI FS.
Taking, however, for the moment the moderately favourable view of the situation, that is to say, assuming that international politics proceed satisfactorily and that in the same connexion there is some expansion in inter- national trade, the point which arises is whether we may not fund that the Stock Exchange activities tend to branch away from the strictly gilt-edged group to investment stocks giving a somewhat higher yield, and also con- ceivably to even more speculative descriptions. This is a view, of course, which has been held for some little time past, and it has so far been verified that if the course of Stock Exchange values is studied over the last five years it will be found-that whereas during the first half of that period the outstanding feature was the great advance in British Funds and kindred securities, that group of stocks has tended rather to steadiness during the second half of the period than to any further great appre- ciation ; while, on the other hand, variable dividend stocks have risen very greatly. If, therefore, we should find in the course of the next few weeks that the new Bank Rate tends to become effective and that in connexion with the return to the Gold Standard—if such return takes place in the near future— there is some talk of slightly higher money rates, it might easily be that gilt- edged securities would tend to droop even though other sections of the House showed firmness.
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