Deals & Developments

Ural Oil? A big new Russian oil field would relieve the shortage of kerosene in Sovietland. It would also give Russia greater bargaining power in international oil meetings. Last week Russian scientists announced not one such new field but three, all strategically located in the Ural mountains, all prodigiously rich. Production from these fields, they said, would free all other Soviet oil for export. Because the revelation came hard upon an international oil parley which collapsed when Russia would not accept offered terms (TIME, June 13) oilmen accepted it with reservations.

Trusts. Consolidation in the investment trust field took another spurt last week. Tri-Continental Corp., sponsored by J. & W. Seligman & Co., bought control of Broad Street Management Corp. which carries with it control of Capital Administration Co., Ltd., an investment trust listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and a management contract with Broad Street Investment Co. The purchases swell the net assets controlled by Tri-Continental to over $40,000,000 by adding $8,500,000.

Not inactive last week, Atlas Utilities made stock offers to the 55,000 stock-holders of twelve affiliated investment trusts. President Floyd Bostwick Odium let it be known that he and other directors and their families control 20% of Atlas shares. Last week 20% of Atlas would have had a market value of $2,500,000.

De-Banking. In Chicago last week the directors of $27,000,000-in-resources Peoples Trust & Savings Bank found operations were no longer profitable, decided to close, paying depositors in full. Peoples is the fourth Chicago bank and by far the largest to do this. Since March 30 its deposits dropped $5,000,000 to $17,000,000. President of the bank is Earle Hay Reynolds, son of Continental Illinois' George McClelland Reynolds and president of the Chicago Clearing House Association. Peoples stock, which sold at $150 this year, last week was offered at $20.*

Ford to Ford. Ford of Canada and Ford of England made an agreement last week. The Canadian company will distribute the baby 8-h. p. Ford made at Dagenham, England. 'In return the British company will distribute throughout its territory the new eight-cylinder Ford made at Walkerville, Ont.

Antic Auburn, Usually price-cuts are bad news to a company. Last week when Auburn Automobile Co. cut $300 to $700 from the prices of its cars. President Errett Lobban Cord cheerily stated it was part of a campaign "to put men to work." Motormen noted that Auburn's low prices are now within $200 of Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth, some $300 below its leading competitors in the $900-$1,000 price class. During the first four months of the year Auburn had 1.1% of the total U. S. passenger car business against 1.6% in the same period a year ago. First May returns showed Auburn doing .7% of the total against 2.5% a year ago.

On the New York Stock Exchange, Auburn shares soared as a pool began to drown the bears. With the Senate's stock-market investigation still going on, Wall Street marveled at the pool-sters' boldness. In three days the stock jumped from $36 to $75. The move was not attributed to Frank Arthur Vanderlip. crane fancier, onetime president of National City Bank and previously considered poolmaster of easily squeezable Auburn (Cord Corp. holds-over 50% of the 211,816 shares), but to the company itself. Observers recalled that other Auburn announcements have been accompanied by the good advertisement of leaping stock prices. As usual, publicity accompanied the pool operations. While hundreds of thousands of shares were being churned about the company handed out stories of mounting production, workers recalled, overtime work, even night shifts. President Cord said Auburn's sales have "evidently interested many people in the securities of this company."

*In London last week owners of Anglo-South American Bank, Ltd. Class A stock were willing to give their shares away. They feared troubles in Chile might force the bank to assess them for their liability of -L-5 a share.

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