Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-26

Alu1uIIl1 lI1lIlAllnl1l
1927 1923
| industries which cater directly to public
1 fancies and demands. Since 1923,
prices therefore, fell steadily until 1928,
when they began to rise a little, but
they are still on low level.
Demand for Steel
| Production, however. has continued at
top speed This is easily understandable
since almost every industry uses iron
and steel and those which are the
heaviest consumers, the railroad, build
ing and automobile industries, have
been enlarging production enormously
! in recent years. The automobile in
Industry particularly is using tremendous
quantities Of steel In the present pro-
9, am OF breaking all production records
tins first quarter.
and building industries is not so
defir\ite. From 1921 to 1924, the rail-
| roadsA carried out tremendous recon-
sgructA)n program which required an
enormous quantity of iron and steel
Since then, however, demand from rail-
roads haai slackened and although in
the future somewhat greater demand
Is expected. 1t will probably not COM
pare with the amount used during the
period Of reconstruction.
Building construction, partly because
Of a mild Winter, held up remarkably
well until a few weeks ago, but has re-
Gently been declining. 1t is possible that
the high cost o. borrowing money is
having a depressing effect on building.
| At any rate 1t Is; doubtful II this de-
mand will greatly increase in the near
| future.
Future Steel Earnings.
Considering the principal sources of
volume of business for the steel COM
panies seem likely, with production hit
ting a peak sometime between March
and May. But after THAI it probably
will decline seasonably info the Sum-
mer months
Earnings Of most steel companies
should. therefore. reach high Yevels dur
ing the first quarter, and possibly
through the second quarter 1t is
rather doubtful however. if they could
maintain their earnings at present lev
els for the balance Of the year.
The chart shows the trend of the
stock OF four steel companies during
the past two years. It Is obvious that
there Ii no close relationship between
the trend Of the stocks, which suggests
that large iron production does not
necessarily affect all companies to the
same extent.
u. S. Steel.
With assets conservatively stated at
| 81, $50 ,000, 900, United States Steel Cor
poration Is by far the largest SHOEMAKER.
producing about 40 per cent of total
steel. 1t carries on every phase of steel
| making. including operation Of railroads
and ships to transport ore. and Is also
| interested In cement, coal, coke and
many other important commodities. The
| company by reinyestment of earnings
has added tremendously to the value of
its assets since the days when common
stock was considered mostly water"
| Today the stock is considered one of
the premier investment stocks of the
country. Over the past seven years
| earnings on present stock outstanding
have fuctuated rather widely, averag.
| ing $685. share. Earnings in 1928
| were $l2.47. The stock pays 81 in divi-
bends and yields about 3.S8 per cent at
| present prices.
Bethlehem.
Bethlehem. second largest, and about
one -fourth the size of the Steel Cor
tant steel company in Northeastern
United States. Like United States Steel.
1t also carries on every phase of steel
making and owns several shipbuilding
yards as well. 1t has just completed
/ very energetic plans to moderniZed, con-
,solidate. and simplify its properties and
has used earnings Of recent years for
This purpose. The result has been to
reduce its costs of production.
DO in, c,SIa
sitAon to get its share OF steel business
or any Shipbuilding business which
might develop in the future, at present
prices the stock yields only Al per cent
Bethlehem's earnings have f1uctuated
widely in recent years, averaging S468
for the past seven years Last years
earnings were $685. and while 1t Is
| stated that present earnings are moving
at the rate Of $40 share this rate can
hardly be expected to hold throughout
the year.
Republic.
Republic Iron & Steel, which is about
one-tenth the size Of the Steel Corpora
| ton, Is one of the foremost producers
by merging with Trumball and Steel d
Tubes, Inc, 1t has combined It's own
\ excess furnace capacity with greater
finished steel capacity and Is expected
to be In a better competitive position.
PeNk earnings Of $15.01 for Republic,
however, were reached in 1923 and the
average for the past seven years has
been IS. Earnings In 1928 were
$4.28. At present prices the stock yields
about A6 per cent.
Gulf States Steel Is a small maker and
fabricatoA of steel products. operating
in the Birmingham district and selling
its product through the South and also
in the West indies. Central America and
South AmeriAl where 1t comes into COM
petition with \foreign steel makers. 1t
has recently been rounding out its or
ganization somewhat and intends to
build q sheet mill with money to be
raised from common stockholders who
are to be given the. right to subscribe to
new stock at $50 a share. In this con-
nection a dividend "a 81, presumably a
quarterly dividend. has been declared
on common. Earningst have been fairly |
steady and the stock has averaged $7.26 |
a share since 1922. Attpresent prices |
the yield Is 5.4 per cent.
Copyright. 1920