Imperial Valley press., 1924-04-15

BABSON PARK, Fla, April 15.-
Commodity prices, unsettled for
some time, have finally dropped to
"a new low for Two years. In light
of this fact, Roger W.. Babson s.
statement made today on the prob.
able future trend Of prices is Of
unusual interest.
"The recent declines have been
in strict accordance with the long
swing trend of commodity prices, -
says Mr.. Babson, "'and 1t is prob
able that over a period of years this
general decline will contin e I.
Whether further recessions can be
expected Immediately or not depends
very largely upon industrial actiyi1
ty.
Commodity prices at present
are bound up with Che building sit
uatioh the automobile and the tex
tile Industries, What is to happen
to the building industry before. the
end of 1924 cannot be told at this
time, but it seems to be holding
its own very well at present. There
has been IA falling off in certain
lines of building, to be sure, but
home construction is continuing at
a fair rate This is largely due to
the fact that the automobile is en-
abling people to move from conge9t-
ed centcrs to the suburbs and the
country. Such migration can be
depended upon to continue for some
years to conc. The good wages
that mechanics and others are get
ting also helps to increase home
building.
Statistics on lumber sales now
available show per cent decrease
in shipments as compared with the
same period of last year. AS
against this decline we find pro
duction so far shows an increase of
s per cent. This slight decline in
shipping. together with increased
production explains the recent soft
ness in the price of certain grades
of lumber Cement is still in IA
sound position owing to continued
activity in road building. Most
other building materials are still
steady in price, but there is a great
difference of opinion as to how
long quotations will remain at their
present level.
New Auto Model
"The production of automobiles
is still at high tide and is now
running at about 80 per eent above
the spring Of 1923. Needless to say
this is !. very high figure for this
season of the year. Distributing
costs meantime are increasing and
immediate sales are slowing up. The
situation has been interpreted in
different ways by different manu-
facturers. Some companies have
increased the price of their cars,
others have reduced prices on Ger
tain models. Certain manufacturers
have obviatcd the necessity of re-
ducing prices by bringing out an
entirely new model t'
"HMost of the tire manufacturers
are feeling distinctly better for the
time being. One company, at least,
in Akron has announced that they
will not take on any moro dealers
for the next three months because
their factories have all the orders
that they can handle. The total
tire production is running over
100000 per month and 1924 out
put should exceed that of 1923. Of
course the great question in this
field today is that Of the future
of the balloon tire. Investors i'll
tire securities .shoul1 watch this
development very carefully. If the
public stanlpedes for balloon tires
it means that this type viii rise
in price while the old high pressure
tire will decline during the next
year or two.
$50 long as automobile produc-
tion holds up the steel business
should continue to be prosperous as
the two are now linked very close
". The untitled orders of a steel
corporation are about five million
tons at the present. or an increase
of two hundred thousand tons over
the first of the year. On the other
hand ut this time last year untitled
orders amounted to over seven mil
lion tons The steel business is good
at the present time ana distinctly
better than a few months ago, but