FINANCIAL NOTES
LIQUIDATION.
THE mood on the Stock Exchange may be said to have changed during the past week from optimism to a modified pessimism, and at the moment it looks as though the final fortnight of the year might close with less cheerfulness than was expected a few weeks ago. Just, however, as the extreme optimism which so frequently characterizes Stock Markets at the end of the year is untrustworthy, so it would be unwise; perhaps, to attach too much importance to the more sober conditions of markets during the past few days. There are always two ways of looking at things, and when the various adverse factors of the past fortnight are taken into consideration, the really striking thing is that markets should have displayed so much resisting power. In the " gilt-edged " section, for example, some of these adverse influences have included a sharp rise in Money. Rates, following the recent rise in the Bank Rate and fresh issues of capital amounting to little short of £20,000,000, much of which has been of an investment charac- ter. Then, as regards general markets, not only have the same influences operated, but events such as the French crisis have also produced an atmosphere unfavourable to market activi- ties. Finally, it must also be remembered that the end of the year usually brings a certain amount of liquidating sales for balance-sheet purposes, and such sales have certainly not been lacking during the past few days.
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