OCR Text |
Show BUSINESS BELOW j LAST YEAR'S MARK i GOOD SHOWING IN ! SOME INDUSTRIES j AT THE HALF YEAR j The current business year at the : half-way mark -has steered a middle course between the predictions of pessimists pes-simists who feared a serious depression depres-sion and those of the optimist who looked for record prosperity, according accord-ing to the monthly review of econ- j omic conditions by the National City j Bank of Xew York. During the first; six months, steel output has surpass-1 ed that of the two previous years;'; building operations have exceeded the ! first half of 1027 and the automobile industry has staked a satisfactory comeback, all implying general industrial in-dustrial activity, but the review points out "despite the good showing in steel, automobiles and construction work, there is undeniable evidence that the total volume of business is not quite up to that of the first six months of last year." In reviewing money and banking, the bank declares that the principal factors in the money market over the last five years have been gold imports and exports and the absorption of credit by the stock market. The net increment of gold from June 30, 1923 to May 1, 1SI27, was $561,000,000, the resultant cerdit expansion, amounting to approximately $18 for cash $1 in . gold, furnishing the motive power behind be-hind the great advance in security prices during this period. The outstanding feature of the present pres-ent money situation, the bank remarks, re-marks, is the indebtedness of members banks to the reserve banks, aggregating aggrega-ting over $1,000,000,000, against the average in March last of $489,000,000. Regarding long term interest rates, the bank believes that unless American Ameri-can industrial development proceeds at a pace much more rapid than now appears possible and hence makes un-forseen un-forseen demands on American capital the trend appears likely to be downward down-ward for some time to come, except as temporarily affected by stringency in the short term market. |