INVEST M ENT NOTES
By CUSTOS
To understand the wave of profit-taking which followed the publication in Monday's papers of the drop in the election chances of the Conservatives it must be appreciated that every- one is expecting a market correction after so steel'
and long an advance in equity share prices. But the steady flow of investment buying from the new Unit Trust issues (Rothschilds are the latest sponsors) does not allow the correction to go very far. Naturally steel shares are the most vulnerable to domestic politics and oil shares to unfavourable winds blowing from Wall Street. I see no reason to rush out of the shares of companies engaged in the prosperous consumer goods trades. The National Institute of Economic and Social Re- search has this conclusion in its new bulletin : The prospects are best for the industries produc- ing consumer durable goods which are already benefiting from the rise in home sales. . . . Industries producing capital goods will probably not experience much change in demand. The rise in public investment should broadly maintain building activity and will increase demand for certain types of equipment, for example, railway equipment . . . demand for other types of plant and machinery may remain weak.' This seems to be a sound guide to industrial investment policy for the time being.
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