Tires

Down, down, down go earnings of U. S. automobile tire makers (TIME, Aug. 27). And down, down, down go the prices of tires. To leading companies, U. S. Rubber and the "biggest" Goodyear Tire & Rubber, last week announced a 20% slash in the cost of second grade tires, meeting a similar reduction by Firestone Tire &

Rubber Cq. Tire makers, linked in the Rubber Pool, have seen their inventories of crude rubber, bought at around 40-c- a pound, fall to less than 20-c-. The same tiremakers, linked in the new Rubber Institute, are fighting fierce competition from mileage-guaranteeing mail order houses (see LETTERS).