The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-04-16
Average Man Should
Not Speculate In
Stocks Just Now
GOOD TIMES ARE
COMING FAST
But Caution Is Needed
In Investments At
Present
ep kENNEIH W. PAYNE.

/ NEW YORK. April lo-Perhaps
the boom on wall-st. has a substan-
tial basis.
Perhaps approaching prosperity
viii yet justify the rise In stocks.
Perhaps
But-no man in America should
throw his savings into the stock
market Not at this time.
There are plenty OF financial men
in New York who viii urge people
10 invest" now. But the best men
In touch with the market tell me
that the present advance in prices
on Wallst. Is speculative-that the
swift advances in steel shares. COP
| per shares. motor stocks are. in
their opinion. not justified by pres
ezt conditions.
| know shall be called a pes
simist--that they will tell you that
your New York correspondent IL a
knocker when. with prices rising on
the stock exchange. he ought 20
boost. But | prefer 20 report to
your readers what the cautious. hon
est hnanciers say. 50 that no saw
ings shall be thrown away. There
fore. I am going to warn the man
with 500 or $1,000 OF even $4,000
against beating his hands against
stony Wall-st. at this time.
But am going to boost. too. In
side news shows that the tide Is
really and truly turning towards
prosperity in the whole country.
Money Is cheap and abundant
According to Byron w. Holt. Of
WaIl-st. financial expert OF note
and formerly editor OF Moody's Mag
azine. the banks now have SAG. 600
/ 600 OF surplus reserves In legal ten
der money. to say nothing OF a
greatly increased lending power.
thanks to the new federal reserve
| act.
Already" Holt told me. great
profts-not TO say fortunes--have
been made In farm products and
war munitions. Wheat and wool
advanced 40 TO so per cent. The
price OF horses has also advanced
rapidly. The great demand for am.
munition and motors forced their
prices up and carried the prices OF
lead. copper and rubber with them"
One OF the fundamental signs Of
big revival IL always to be found
in pig Iron production and in steel
orders, two basic industries. The
Iron Age reports that here there Is
net gain In furnaces In blast OF
a.. while the present rate Of produc-
ton Is higher than at any time
since April OF last year. The pro-
duction has climbed from 100000
tons on Jan I, TO 26 900 900 tons at
the opening OF April. an increase OF
a. per cent.
Building trades are as a rule
more seriously hurt In a period OF
depression than any other industry.
yet reports from many cities indi
cate that the permits issued aver
age barely IL per cent less than
for this period last year
Bank clearings. considered one OF
the more accurate signs OF business
conditions. show astonishing Inn
provsment While In January they
were $4,000, 000. 900 behind January.
1914, in the month past the figures
were Less than half billion behind
Ito be exact. $500. 1000 900 behind.
A prominent st. Louis business
man. A. w. Douglas, in close touch
with the situation In the middle
west. writes that the present agri.
cultural and commercial outlook II
much what IL was Just before the
two tremendous booms OF 1873 and
1898. He also calls attention 20 the
fact that while the cotton acreage
viii be smaller than in the past.
much OF this land will be given
over 20 spring wheat and this will
90 TO swell the acreage OF grains
whose extent already beats all past
records
Bradstreet's. the great financial
review, declares that recent trade
reports ARE In some respects the
most favorable received since the
spring OF 1914"
According TO the report just r.
sued by the treasury department.
New England shows a distinct i'm.
provement In the three districts re-
porting. and a decline In none. From
the Pacinc coast. the middle west,
and the south. the department de-
clares II has similarly encouraging
word.
From Chicago comes news that
several famous dry goods houses
have noted a big Influx OF buyers
a sure sign OF revival, while one re.
ports that Il has placed larger or.
ders throughout the country than
II did for the same week year
ago.
Finally, and typical of the huge
-x-Ar- afASs---i,teis--cuntfn 70 gyIm-
ulate our trade, comes the news
from Montreal. Canada. that AZ least
30 American concerns are sharing
the work and profits on the $50. 600.