CAPTAIN YOUR OWN CRUISER
. . . on the beautiful River Shannon or for a short Spring season on the River Barrow.
Write for our Colour Brochure and Barrow leaflet with details of 4, 5, 6 and 8 berth luxury cruisers; modern cruising bases. These magnificent boats are fully equipped — ready in fact, to step into. We even order your groceries in advance.
Jimmy Priestley joined the Stock Exchange not long after the gilt-edged market was having its heyday. After the £ had fallen in 1931 Bank rate had been lowered from 6 per cent to 5 per cent in February 1932 and then in rapid succession to 4 per cent, 31 per cent, 3 per cent, 21 per cent and finally 2 per cent on June 30, 1932, where it stayed until August 1939. Neville Chamberlain who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer took a mean advantage of the boom in gilt-edged which these successive Bank rate cuts had fired and in December 1932 asked the holders of £2,000 million of undated 5 per cent War Loan to accept a 31 per cent coupon. As the stock had reached 115 the holders responded favourably, glad to help 'the dear old country' out of its depression, for cheap money was going to help trade and housing. Those holders who have lived to see War Loan fall to below 30 will see the point of Priestley's joke about 'fraudulent securities' and not feel very amused.
Priestley retires from the biggest jobbing firm now operating on the Stock Exchange — Wedd, Durlacher, Mordaunt. The size of their business can be gauged from the total turnover figures for 1973 which the Stock Exchange
Council published last week. The value of the bargains in millions of pounds were:— Fixed Equity Interest • Shares
1971 £50,816 m £13,377 m 1972 £36,397 m £20,066 m 1973 £38,690 m £17,079 m
The figures for equities illustrate the boom which ran from March 1971 to May 1972 while those for gilt-edged show the depression which fell on the market as the Treasury wrongly tried to control the economy by the use of high interest rates. What we must now realise is that two rates of interest are required — a high rate for foreigners, if we want to protect sterling, and another low one for the domestic economy if we want to foster house building and industrial investment. I have campaigned for a two-tier . system of interest rates ever since Keynes first proposed it at the Macmillan enquiry in 1931. It is sad that Jimmy Priestley had to retire before he could see recovery coming in the giltedged market as a result of this necessary reform which cannot now be long delayed.
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