Show business Ini improves proves when the third quarter earnings reports of major industrial corporations first began began appearing it looked as if the improvement in business had measured up to the rather optimistic estimates made in the spring by most economists now that all the reports are out it is evident that the improvement even exceeded the hopes of tho the most sanguine I 1 the national city bank of new york has made a survey rv of the earnings of important industrial concerns engaged in every field of activity these companies had third quarter net profits of almost double the made in the same period last year and their income for the first nine months totaling was more than 98 per cent better than the earned as net in the first three quarters of 1938 only two industrial du groups coal mining and auto makers other than general motors showed deficits for the first nine months this year where nine groups reported losses last year in some cases improvement was almost startling where for instance the auto equipment people had a deficit of for the first nine months of last year they made a net of this year and U S steel turned a deficit into a profit there was naturally wide variation in the degree of improvement experienced by the various industries reporting the captian goods industries were gene generally ally among the leaders auto aircraft paper textiles and chemicals were also well to the top gains made by food concerns were smaller and oil company profits were actually loss less than in the 1938 period the utilities including the railroads power and communication companies improved but more modestly by comparison with manufacturing industry at large taking the companies as a whole net profits were at the annual rate of return of cent of net worth nine nineteen teen thirty eight return was at the rate of 37 per cent and this all there is to the enciu encouraging aging story business figures are telling the third quarter improvement was practically unaffected by war buying few concerns were able to fulfill war orders before the end of september when the quarte closed so the universally held outlook is that the final quartet will materially exceed the third in production profits employment gains and everything else in october for instance th ohp federal reserve board index of industrial po production hit and in booming 1929 its average was only this mean that profits are comparably that close to the 29 peak they are far from it due largely to lower prices and higher wages and taxes but they are going up rapidly and the experts seem to think they wont be checked unless widespread unlooked unlocked for labor disputes should occur |