FINANCIAL NOTES
INDUSTRIALS AND AMERICA.
PRICE movements in the industrial share market during the past week or so have revived questions whether the prolonged decline in quotations has at last been checked. Fluctuations are still erratic, but British industrials seem to have cast off their close attachment to New York, and slumps in that centre are now having a less depressing effect on markets here. At current reduced prices the yields offered on many sound industrials appear quite attractive, and company reports now coming to hand demonstrate that rising industrial costs have by no means offset increased revenue derived from expand- ing turnover and higher selling prices. Since trade indices provide no serious ground for anticipating an early set-back in activity in this country, selective buying of first-class industrials, in view of the yields offered, seems a good investment proposi- tion. That the public is fully alive to the uncertainties of price movements is, however, clear from the absence of any strong buying movement, and those who enter the market for invest- ment should do so with due caution. They should be prepared for a possible further price fall, and should certainly not expect any immediate or striking recovery in quotations. In the most favourable circumstances, markets seem destined for a period of convalescence and sensitiveness after their recent buffeting, even if they receive no fresh shocks from Europe or Wall Street.
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