| Show SOME POINTS 8 OF A IF 0 rhe SLUMP an when president roosevelt called the special session ot oi congress the country was virtually in a boom stage as combar ed with today s condition stocks were at high levels re em was going ahead on a comfortable scale though un favorable signs existed they were few and comparatively einsig ant and almost everything pointed to a highly prosperous winter season now in two months the picture has changed completely stocks in spite of occasional flurries are holding stubbornly at levels close to the october loijos with few exceptions indus trial production continues to sag unemployment is increase ing alarmingly and it is very likely that this winters relief problem will be as grave as in iii any year since 1929 one result of this is a complete change in the attitude of the administration the special session was primarily called for three purposes the wage and hours law the farm relief proposal and the bill to create seven new regional electric au ties similar in nature to the T V A it was assumed that these matters would absorb the undivided attention of the ses sion and that nothing else of moment would be brought up on the floor or in committee what has happened 9 the wage A age and hours law is in a state of chaos with warring factions seeking to change it one way or another and with a strong gressional on bloc opposed to the passage of the bill or any law of its type the chances are against it going through in the special session the farm bill is in a predicament and it seema almost impossible that a law satisfactory to the various opposed factions in house and senate can be prepared for months the seven regional authorities bill is according to last reports completely moribund congress is almost wholly occupied with the busin business esq recession and with proposals designed to prevent it from be coming conling another major long lasting depression tax reform seems nearer to achievement than at any time in the last four years there is definite sentiment in favor of a more concil batory general policy toward industry there is a growing feel ing that we have gone too far with regulation especially as it affects the security markets and exchanges there is a move ment on foot to encourage business to spend on a big scale of which the most significant development is the president presidents s an bounced policy of a more friendly attitude toward the electric utilities and his recent talks with utility executives the pal question now is can congress act fast enough to stop the decline 9 some recent events have been en cou raging but they by no means mean assure a change in the down don ward trend whatever happens it seems impossible for any important change to take place before late january i fat fart that augurs badly for the christmas season some business briefs of interest follow automobiles production has slackened and the out look ton foil new car sales is nowhere near as bright as it seemed a few weeks ago A bad factor is that dealers are heavily over stocked with used cars and are unable to give favorable trade ins to which the public has become accustomed and so are los ing many deals that would otherwise be made also finance companies are demanding larger down and monthly payments and are frowning upon the long term payment contracts that were made widely during the past three years ELECTRIC POWER A curious situation obtains here demand for power has continued to rise yet power companies have not expanded plant capacity accordingly the normal expansion is to keep two years ahead of demand they do not dare to expand for fear of government competition and the im plied threat of taking over their businesses on state socialistic programs power indu industry s net earnings have been low no additional money is put into the business make the old in vestment do as we don t know when it will be taken away from us STEEL business week says buying of steel is on a hand to mouth basis production is very low outlook poor industrial EARNINGS fourth quarter profits will be under the same period of last year RETAIL TRADE Is still expected to be about as good as last year by the optimistic but this attitude not shared by all who see that the predicted some months ago is not materializing in the sales receipts in fact the situation generally genei gen ei ally seems to be let the other fellow hold the inventory I 1 will buy only when a sale is sight that means business at a low ebb the recession is still with us |
