The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-08-13
BUSINESS BETTER
Than ANTICIPATED
Market Conditions SOund-Cred-
it Situation Strengthened
Outlook Encouraging

Business enters the latter half Of
the year with the domestic situation
in general sounder than was antici-
pated six months ago, states the cur
rent issue Of the Guaranty Survey,
published by the Guaranty Trust COM
pany of New York. 1t will be re-
called that at that time a good deal
Of uncertainty was apparent regard
ing the probable trend of affairs be-
yOnd the early part Of the year. 1t
is now possible to IcOk forward to
the remainder Of 1926 with a con-
siderably greater degree of conf
dence.
/, Recession Orderly
Perhaps the most important de-
velOpment of the half-year bearing
on the general business outlook, the
Survey continues, was the change in
the course Of stock prices. The up
ward movement of values and fever
ish speculative activity which were in
full swing at the end Of 1925 culmi-
mated in a moderate and orderly re-
cessiOn which had none of the aspects
of panic or depression usually assOci-
ated with a major reversal Of trend,
and which has given way to a re-
newed strength in the last two
months. An even more important
consideration is that the boom psy-
chOlOgy subsidized without having COM
municated itself, as 1t has usually
done in the past, to commodity mar
kets in general.
The firmness Of commodity prices
in the last three months bears wit
ness to the essentially sound condi-
lions in most markets. Although the
buying policies prevalent in recent
years have prevented any marked in
crease in the volume of untitled or
ders, commodity stocks remain at Il
level which reflects conservatism on
the part of producers.
Less Speculation
The credit situation has been ma
terially strengthened by the decline
in stock speculation and the CORES
pOnding shrinkage in the volume of
funds tied up in security loans. The
possibility Of an advance in money
/, rates sufficient to restrict general
business activity is even more remote
than it was six months ago.
Despite the encouraging develop
ments Of the last half-year, a number
Of conditions remain which necessar.
lily lend uncertainty to the outlook
The abnOrmally cold spring has re.
suited in a backward crop season
with a possibility that some crop.
may be severely injured by frost o.
by insects before bey can be har.
vested.
In domestic finance, two elementl
Of uncertainty stand out In recen'
weeks there have been signs Of a ne
Z vival Of speculative activity in tn,
stock market, which, however, cal
not yet be said to have assumed seri
Z Gus proportions, and which ma,
prove to be due merely to Norma
reaction of prices from the decline o
last March It appears that th
larger volume Of tTading is attribu
table mainly to an increase in invest
menu rather than speculative buying
although the rather pronounced eX
pansiOn Of brokerage loans in recen
weeks suggests that it is not entirel
so.
Installment Selling
There remains the question Of in
stallment selling, which for more tina
a year has been q source Of some cor
Germ. It is a situation which IS with
out precedent IN economic histor,
and upon which very little statistic.
information is available. All tht
can now be said with certainty
that the practice has been GROWN
rather rapidly for two years or NOR.
and that up to the present time q
serious adverse effects have becom