The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-01-10

conditions have in many directions already shown a decided turn for the better, and have thus furnished a very desirable backing for the
 purely financial elements of i'm
 provement. that had been, on the surface, responsible for the immedi- ate betterment of values.
 Tendencies in Business
 Perhaps the most encouraging as- pect of the business situation has been afforded by the news that very large Unemployment of labor has been In progress. It is estimated that the number of employees who have been taken back in their old places by the automobile industry since the beginning of the year Is well toward 25.000. while railroads and steel producers in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia are re- ported to have re-employed about 12,O0O. This is understood to be only a beginning. 1t being the pre- vailing opinion that, within the com ing few weeks. the movement to- ward unemployment of men who had been dropped or furloughed will go much further. The improvement in actual schedules of employment
 
 corning the outlook of business. Some authorities in the steel trade definitely predict that that industry will be operating at a rate of 55 to GO per cent of capacity by the be- ginning of February. Others are less confident about the early future, but are of the opinion that there will be steady upward trend which may be slower than that pre- dicted by the more optimistic, but will certainly result in a very ma terial enlargement of manufacture before great while. Steady ex- pansion in the automobile industry Is also predicted, and 1t is asserted that in a number of other business branches, there has been a place. ment of orders which foreshadows considerable broadening of output and Ge1sand within an early period. Retail trade continues very good in most parts of the country. consid- ering the season, which always, of course. shows a letting down as compared with the previous holiday month.
 Market Review and Outlook
 Encouraging trade and financial developments that have recently taken place have naturally created a much more confident feeling with respect to the stock market. To be sure prices in a number of direc- tons, especially in the railroad group. have enjoyed fair recoveries, with the result that there has been a disposition on the part of some operators who made purchases at lower figures to bag their profits. Barring very moderate reactions here and there, however, the mar. ket has shown excellent absorbing power. This is partly due to the fact that a considerable proportion of the large disbursements paid out by corporations to holders of secur- tiles on the first of the year has been reinvested. Nor is this surprising that quotations for standard shares are still at levels low to make them ex- ceedingly attractive, not only from the standr oint of investment with a good chance of capital enhancement, but also with respect to the very liberal income yields which many of them afford. There is no expec- tation. Of course, that a boom per- iod is close at hand. but if trade developments in the next several months should be as favorable as now widely predicted. 1t goes with out saying that the present uncer- tainty regarding the stock market would be replaced by a much more feeling. which naturally would result in a greater purchasing power. F'rSm the evidence now at hand there would seem to be no doubt that there is no longer any important liquidation overhanging the market and with the street bare of stocks the list is in a position to promptly respond to anything in the way of favorable news based simply on the law of supply and demand, if for no other reason.