Our income from the Shanghai area was very much reduced as was o to be expected but it still remai as our most important source of b ness. Conditions here from the underwriting point of view have deteriorated considerably. A great deal of very unattractive business is now on the market due to unprecedented congestion in a very restricted area and the decline in structural standards New York, Apr. 27.
Cotton prices early declined on foreign selling, May liquidation and lower Bombay advices, but later under some new buying the market partially recovered its earlier losses. Subsequent! further downward adj ment prices closed from down against yesterdi Trading conditions in the rubber market were dull. Fluctuations were confined to a narrow range, and clos-ug quotations ruled from 1 point down to 2 points up, compared with the previous final levels.
A further rise in wheat prices was recorded in the Chicago Grain Pit today. The advance was principally due to continued reports of crop damage, a lack of sellers and repens of pending Argentine crop restrictions. At the final bell, gains ranging from to 1 cent were chalked up.
New York Cotton New York Rubber May 8337—2 May 1539-7: une July 81-1—03 B/A Oct. TIN-M—07 July 1585-86—01 Dec. 7.64-64—07 Sept. 1591-03 +02 Jan. 763N—0; Dec 1597-98 102 Mar. 761-61—09
New York Sugar No. 4
New York Silk May 14415-4543
May (No. 1) July 44 23:39 4195
Chicago Wheat Chicago Corn Our domestic underwriting income has suffered severely as was inevitable. The spread of hostilities from ihe seaboard to the Central China provinces and to the South forced the closure of several agencies and branches in territories which were important to us as revenue producing areas. While trading has been restricted and diminished greatly, the economic life of the country is now concentrated in areas hitherto neglected. The provinces of Szechuen, Yunnan, Kweichow and Kansu have probably made more progress in the last twelve months than they would have achieved in decades. With the removal of our seat of government to Chungking these provinces have being also was at the exceptionally low figure of 3,010,000 shares for the entire week. Most domestic business in-dides improved, with car loadings, automobile production, electric power and average daily oil production, gold stocks and demand deposits recording increases, while only steel operations and brokers' loans declined. General Motors' first quarter sales were the largest since 1929, producing the highest revenue for that period in a decade. Montgomery Ward is expected to report April sales approximately 13 per cent. greater than last year. Automobile tire shipments were the best for any month since August 1937. On the other hand, steel scrap prices in Pittsburgh declined 50 cents per ton. The New York Times Index of business activity declined fractionally to 86.0 against 869 for the previous week and 769 for the corresponding period last year. Activity in the most important fields was reported as follows: Previous Latest Steel Operations—of capacity 509 456 548,000—559,000 duction—kw. hrs. *2,171,000 #2,199,000 Average Daily Oil Production- barrels 3,495,000 3,527,000
90.280 19.000 of many hastily put up mills and factories. I very much regret to have to say that the Brokerage Rules are now being abused on a scale which cannot be ignored and the achievement of almost two years of hard work by various Committees is very seriously threatened. I sincer hope that something can be done in time to save the position.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.