Picking Up Speed

When Detroit made auto peace, Wall Street stepped on the gas. Investors rushed in, lifted volume on the New York Stock Exchange to a five-week peak of 5,700,000 shares. After cracking alltime records for three straight days, the Dow-Jones industrials closed the week at 867. That was a rise of 38 points in less than three weeks.

While the auto settlement gave a big push to the market, it was not responsible for its basic momentum: the market had been moving up on bullish business news for five straight sessions before the Detroit settlement. The auto agreement opened the way to further increases by raising the prospect of mild inflation and by removing what seemed to many the last immediate obstacle to continued prosperity.

Chrysler and General Motors set historic highs during the week, and Ford came within an inch of its alltime peak. Many companies that sell to the automakers--in steel, copper, rubber, glass --also jumped smartly. Another fast riser was Du Pont (up 17 points, to 276), which still holds 23 million shares of G.M. stock.

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