The Washington times., 1928-04-21
REVIEWS SHOW
c A IN s | n
TRADE
BY RICHARD HATTON

BY I61CuAnD MA A4O1N
Interesting data in regard to Il
nance and trade is contained in the
=zcurrent issue of the. Federal Re
serve Bulletin and in the weekly
statement of the Department OF
Commerce. rhe Reserve Bulletin
states that production and distri-
: button of commodities increased
further in February. while whole
sale commodity prices remained
practically unchanged. Commercial
: loans Of member banks showed a
lafrer increase in February and the
first half Of March than at the
, mame season in other recent years.
1t continues: Production Of man.
ufactures in February. as indicated
BY the Federal Reserve Board s
index, increased per cent over
January and was s per cent larger
than a year ago, while production
of minerals declined slightly and
continued to be substantially small
err than last year. Factory employ
, ment and pay rolls showed q sea-
sonal increase in February. but
continued at a lower level than q
KE61E# ~ vi $3.50
steel automobiles and agricultural
machinery has Increased consider
ably since the first of the year.
Bally average production OF steel
fngots in February was larger than
ifl any other month since last
March, and current reports 4ndi-
cate that output was sustained IN
the first three weeks in March.
Production OF nonferrous metals
also Increased in February. Acc
fivitv In the textile industries has
shown little change since the first
OF the year. Production Of btu
minous coal and crude petroleum,
which decreased in February, in
creased slightly in the first half
of March.
..Building contracts awarded were
larger in February than in the
corresponding month of any pre-
-vious year, reflecting chiefly q
large volume of awards for resi-.
Hential construction IN the New
York and Chicago districts. Con.
tracts let IN the first two weeks
81 March were in approximately
the same volume as in the cor
responding period Of last year.
Volume of Trade
The dollar volume of trade dur
ing the week ended April IA, as
reflected by figures covering check
payments. was larger than year.
ago, according to the weekly state
ment Of the Department of Com.
merce. The general level of whole.
sale prices increased to the high
est point attained since 1926. The
price Of cotton continued to rise.
while iron and steel remained the
same. Prices of copper, wheat and
cotton were all considerably above
q year ago. but iron and steel
prices were slightly lower.
Loans and discounts OF Federal
Reserve member banks declined
slightly from the high point reached
in the previous week. The Fed
eral Reserve ratio { ,ntinued its
decline. Loans to brokers and
dealers by Federal Reserve mem
Der banks in New York city de-.
cfined slightly from the high, rec
ord reached during the previous
week. The index Of stock prices
again rose to high record, while
bond prices showed fractional
decline, but were higher than a
year ago. The cali-money rate
continued to rise, while interest
on time money was quoted the
same as in the previous week.
Both rates were considerably J cher
than year ago.
The production Of bituminous coal
during the week ended April 2
was much lower than during the
previous week, owing to the Easter
holiday and was also lower than
a year ago. Lumber production
also declined from the previous
week, but was higher than in the
corresponding week Of last year.
The output of beehive coke was
less than half as large as in
the corresponding week year
ago Receipts of wheat were higher
than a year ago, as were receipts
of: hogs at primary markets. Cat
tie receipts. however, were less
than a year ago and receipts Of
cotton were also smaller.
COrIxran Made Manager
=. j. +. corkran, we'll known in
the financial district since his con
hection with the local office of
g. r. Childs and Company in 1925,
has been made resident manager
Of the Washington office of the
company, which has supervision
over Maryland, Virginia and North
Carolina. in addition to the District.
7The Washington Stock Exchange
voted to follow the action Of the New
E0rk Exchange and the curb market
IN closing today. The reason given
for the action of the New York mar
kets is for the purpose of permitting
d1tces to catch up with their work,
Which has been of tremendous vol.
ppae during recent weeks.
W. w. Spaid, of William B. Hibbs
& Co. il in New York. where he at
tended the annual meeting and ban
auet of the out-of.town section of
New York Stock Exchange firms
yesterday and last night.