'The "North China' will have received so much by cable on this matter that it is-not necessary £02 me here to xo into details regarding individual stocks. Suffice it to say that last week's feeling that the worst in the stock market was over has been confirmed—yet there are clouds still on the horizon. Of the five trading days of three hours each ending on Saturday, the mar-Ket. advanced,' according to. th averages, 47.75 points for the li dustrial' and 20.27 for the rulls above the low levels reached at the close of trading on Nov. 13. In number of points gained the rally has been "substantial (possibly changed between my time and th: time this is printed), restoring about one quarter the loss of the industrials from the high level of carly September and nearly a third of the railroad stock decline.
But, no matter what tnay be claimed to be the contrary, it cannot be doubted that this wave of extreme speculation that has attacked the United States daring the past two years, is now visible in trade conditions, which might have been much better but for this speculation which directed money into channels other than those of legitimate trade and industry.
One docs not hear much of it! in the newspapers, for there is is something in American psychology that "bucks" at the recognition of bad times. During the past fort night, however, many firms have cut down' their staffs.. One of the largest automobile manufacturers has been on the warpath dismissing hundreds of employees in the New York offices, and at least a dozen other similar eases have come to my notice. The large department stores also, and at the very time of the year when they usually augment their sales force, have been discharging people by the thousand, That Magic Word All this, in the absence of authentic information whereon te base one's views, inclines the person who thinks to believe that American business gene: lly is not as good as reported. We hear so much er's magic word—that the average American seems blindly to believe that the United States is prosperous, has always been, and cannot be otherwise than prosperous Exchange writers however, admit certain readjustment and that things are far more hopeful than thes were either immediately before oe immediately after the crash, the key to Stock Exchange recovery during' the next six months is to be found {in the business situation. 'They tell their readers quite non-committally that "possibly it will be much less than feared," but "it is to. be note that business has for some been falling off, and the market break has done' nothing to arrest the decline." On the contrary, it has done a great deal to hurry forward the decline, and President Hoover and the industrial magnates who have been assembling for discussions daring the Inst few days in Washington are well aware of this disturbing fact. How business may respond to the stimulant of a great supply of cheap credit, lower taxes, a vigorous public and corporation building programme still remains to be seen.
tunately there is a good deal of cheap money at the moment.
Events of importance of the week which closed on the 23rd_ instant have been the reduction in the Bank of England's discount rate to 64, cuts in the discount rate to 43 by the Boston and the Chicago Federal Reserve banks, the return of Japan to the gold standard, accompanied by the arrangement of credit for 50,000,000 here and in London, a series of corporation dividend eveases and a further weakening of money yates. Another event of importance is the adjournment of Congress without action -on the Tariff.
Trade Not So Good All the same, it cannot be denied that the solution to tne present uneasiness is to be found in the general increase of bus throughout the country. It is po fectly clear that this is so. But it is not perfectly clear that, with enormous sums of money which were Tost by the principal bayers in the country to the few successful opera
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.