Show ECONOMIC highlights business as usual usual describes tile the tom commercial mercial picture today during recent weeks there have been no marked changes either upward or downward the high level attained during the ithe spring has been maintained this summer when seasonal adjustments are made to quote business week business sentiment is obviously improve ed now the presidents c court 0 urt bill has taken a trimming though all la is not exactly quiet on the labor front it is definitely better than Is was another encourage ing factor in the view ot 0 business men is congress apparent reluctance to okay major experimental legislation it now seems probable that adjournment will take place within two weeks As this column has remarked before the noticeable upturn in optimism on the ithe part of business men Is one of the most impo important of recent developments last year for instance and early this year many leaders were frankly skeptical ot f the basic ba sic soundness of the recover recovery Y movement they regarded it as aa a boom bubble that might burst at any time they still dont reel feel that the underlying structure is as solid as it might be but they are defir definitely more hopeful that needed corrections ions will take place here are some business briefs of interest agriculture CULTURE big crops are being harvested and prices are good there is an acute shortage of farm labor in many states elates even though wages have risen materially on july 1 the farm labor supply de mand ratio was the lowest since late 1923 automobiles this june pas acinger car registrations totaled as against in june 1936 and in june 1935 thus sales are tending to slacken this Is to be expected in the light of the remarkable demand for new cars the public has shown tor for two years it is possible that a temporary saturation point is being reached however sales of higher priced cars are going up lp RAILROADS will benefit from increased farm arm production this tall fall the industry is now carrying on wage negotiations with its unions and it is expected that compromises will be reached with wages somewhat increased alan management argement un union on relations have reached a high stan dard in this industry and no one anticipates strikes or other disturbances UTILITIES it is forecast that telephone service will reach record proportions early next year first halt installations coaled light and power companies are doing well so far as production and sales are concerned their big problem is still legislative the supreme courts decision on the holding company act will be ot of vital importance to this industry the decision will probably be handed down in the early tall fall advertising Is up in all branches with biggest gains registered by magazines whose lineage is now at IS 13 highest point since june 1930 farm papers ran rail second in percentage increases and newspapers third construction two well known economists writing in fortune forecast a home building boom that will start soon and continue until about 1943 builders are working on the problem of furnishing atta aclise effial efficient nt low cost houses tor for families in the 2530 25 30 a week income group not much is expected from government efforts in this field FOREIGN TRADE Is geating better slowly great hopes are held for the new gold agreement just effected with brazil which is supposed to greatly widen our market there european and oriental trade prospects are unpredictable in view of wars and war scares STOCKS AND BONDS are stable with the general tendency upward practically leve anticipates higher values for securities this tall fall and winter STEEL with labor difficulties over for the time being steel mills have recently been operating at more than so 80 per cent of capac capacity city a very high summer rate RETAIL PRICES continue upward there is said to be definite consumer resistance to high prices price in some lines notably meats which la 19 reflected in declining consumption |