FORD MOTOR SHARKS.
So far as the industrial and speculative markets are concerned, there is little doubt that the result of the Ford Motor flotation has been to give a stimulus to the speculative appetite. At the time of the issue of the prospectus of Ford Motors of £2,800,000, I was able to comment favourably in these columns with regard to the genuineness of the enter- prise, and the possibilities foreshadowed in the way of giving employment to a number of people here, if the undertaking proved successful in its scheme for making Dagenham in Essex a great centre for distributing Ford cars all over Europe. At the same time, if I-had been asked to prophesy the result of the appeal for nearly £3,000,000 of capital at a moment when markets were depressed, for the reasons I have just given I should have found it hard to take other than a sober view. Within a day or two of the issue, however, it was whispered round the market that New York was likely to be a good buyer of the shares, and the result has proved that the report had good foundation. The issue itself appears to have been many times covered, and even previous to the issue of allotment letters New York was bidding about 20s. premium for the 20s. shares. Moreover, when the allotment letters came out, the genuineness of the previous offers was confirmed by the fact that there were free dealings at about premium, in other words applicants who received shares had the oppor- tunity of immediately obtaining nearly 100 per cent. profit. So far as can be gathered, the allotment was on very fair lines, with due consideration for the small applicant.
Previous page
