State of the Nation

Dun and Bradstreet, merged three weeks ago. last week published their second combined Weekly Review. At the head of "Dun's Industrial Indices" the first item was this:

1933 1932

Bank Clearings

Holiday

Not alone were bank clearings missing from important indices by which businessmen are accustomed to gauge the state of business. All stock exchanges and most commodity exchanges (except livestock and other perishables) failed to function. Businessmen searching for straws in every wind last week found them of two contradictory kinds.

Stoppages. Because of the banking holiday, cancellations of orders poured in on businesses everywhere. U. S. Steel's unfilled orders fell to 1,854,200 tons, a new low record. Estimates were that the steel industry operations had fallen another 2% to 15% of capacity.

Buick closed its manufacturing plants at Flint because of cessation of retail sales shortly after General Motors announced February sales of 42,000 cars against 51,000 in January and 47,000 in February a year ago. Last week, however, Chevrolet brought out on schedule its new "standard six," minus 3 inches of wheelbase, 5 horsepower, and various luxury gadgets including free-wheeling--selling for $50 to $75 less than Chevrolet's "master six." Three days after the public was invited to see the new car, Chevrolet like Buick shut down its Flint plant.

With all indices of industrial production sharply down, carloadings fell to 477,000 on the last weekly report (March 4), 36,000 less than two weeks before, 256,000 less than two years ago, adding to the sad and still unfinished tale of railroad woes with the full force of the holiday yet to be felt.

The Life Underwriters Association of New York took pains to point out that the income of life insurance companies was 50% more than the amount necessary to meet death claims. However New York's Superintendent of Insurance felt called upon to limit policy loans and withdrawals against policies' cash value to $100 per policyholder in order to prevent a run on insurance companies like the run on banks. Similar action was taken in other States.

Up Prices. Anticipating a buying wave when the bank holiday passed, many prices moved up, giving the lie to the bearish signs of stoppages. Meat prices made the stiffest advance but yielded when housewives refused to increase purchases. Wheat prices were generally up in Winnipeg and other world markets. Cotton moved up a bit at Liverpool. These half-promises of better returns for farmers gave a hopeful indication that farm buying power might be bettered, mail order business and farm machinery business improved.

Silver and copper moved upward in cash trading with the markets closed. Diamonds, silk and imported rugs all advanced, but dealers preferred to hold their stocks lest they should not be able to replace them except at higher prices.

Memberships in nearly all exchanges boomed in hope of better business. Seats on the New York Cotton Exchange moved up $1,500 to $12,000; seats on Chicago Board of Trade up $3,700 to $7,500.

Dealing in stocks, even bootleg trading, hardly existed for ten days but various, sometimes fantastic reports of a few transactions indicated rising prices. In Toronto and London prices mounted on the U. S. stocks traded there.

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