Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-11
CORPORATION
REPORTS
TRENDS AND PROSPECTS OF
LEADING ORGANIZATIONS

NEW YORK, May 1.-THE follow
ing Is summary Of important cor
poration news, prepared by the Stand
| ard Statistics Co., Inc, New York. fol
the Associated Press,
Weekly News Review.
The action of the stock market dur
ing the past week was Of more In.
terest on account Of its character thar
! because Of the extent Of the price
movement Two points In particular
became evident--the apparent resist
ance to pressure that heretofore haI
caused losses and the lack Of convtnc-
ing trend for the week, up or down.
Selling pressure that has been ex-
erted consistently on special stocks in
recent weeks continued through the
first four sessions, causing the market
to continue its downward course
through Monday. Thereafter ability ia
gain. in spite Of selling and in spite
OF weakness in fsvorites. became evil
dent. A rally on Friday recovered i'm
portant ground, much of which was
lost. however. during Saturdays short
session.
The result Of the weeks operations
as measured by the, Standard price In
dex of 90 stocks. showed net gain
Of SO points to 1925 on May from
1859 on May /. This advance was
participated only by two Of the three
divisions. industrials and utilities. the
former of which gained rs points tc
1877 on May and the latter IL
points to 1872. Rails showed . rise
Of OIL point of s3.l, which is, practical
~ speaking. no movement ct all.
The action OF the New York Federal
Reserve Bank Thursday afternoon IN
lowering its rediScolInt rate nom pei
cent to III per cent. the lowest on rec
ord. was considered generally construc-
tive. While this may reflect lack OF
industrial demand for funds. many be-
Heve that 1t will aid investments mar
kets. Certainly the lower rate failed
to present Fridays rally on the stock
market or to depress bond prices.
During the week bond levels, as In
dicated by the Standard index, rose o.
point to 95.4 on May q. Principa
strength on the bond market was ex-
fibited by short-term Government Is.
sues. largely because the lower bill
buying rate established by the New
York Federal Reserve Bank diverted
short-term funds TO these and other
channels
On Saturday the United States Steel
CORPORATION reported untitled orders as
of April 80 97.601 tons below those on
March 81, drop in line with the un-
oficial estimates previously published
but somewhat discouraging as confirm
ing the existence Of relatively unfa-
vorable situation. Mill operations foI
the week ended May 4 were estimated
at ~ per cent of capacity, against a
little over 48 per cent the week pre-
ceding, indicating retarding OF the
-
tendency to level of. On the favor
able side, higher pig iron output for
the whole month Of April over March
and heavier demand reported for pipe
line and other construction are coun-
terbalanced by unfavorable news of the
blowing out Of three blast furnaces
during April, declining scrap prices
and lower April rail production.
Retail sales reports for April received
during the week showed about the same
drop below April, 1880. that was shown
by March sales, a drop relatively small
and making an appreciably better COM
parison with 1880 than can be shown
by other important lines OF activity.
Aggregate sales of 80 systems In April
were on 400 per cent and in the four
months ended April was SIG below
1880.
Freight car loadings for the week
ended April as, reported wednesday,
were more unfavorable than Is at f1rSt
apparent by the fact that the normal
trend for this week of the year is up
ward. Aside from statistical material
the railroad news Of the week contains
report by the New England Gov
errors Committee fsvoring a cut in
the interest held by the Pennsylvania
in the Boston 81 Maine and the New
HoUaN IN hA fNliOuJod hu annna INifiRQ a.
<tion Of the two New England carriers.
Sentiment in favor of detached rail-
road unit for New England has long
been recognized as existing among New
England interests. In the West carriers
will be affected by q temporary injunc-
ton obtained against enforcement OF
lower grain rates ordered by the Inter-
state Commerce Commission.
New automobile registrations in the
first IL States reporting showed an in
crease over March OF 80 per cent.
o showing considered not entirely I'M
favorable. Production by members of
the National Automobile Chamber Of
Commerce, excluding Ford. in April.
was estimated to be 40 per cent over
March. an increase q little less than
had been expected.
Another increase In the daily average
output Of crude oil in the country.
thought relatively small, again calls at
tention to the discourAging situation
existing in that quarter. Copper news
also contains evidence of further price
weakness, evidencing q somewhat SIM
liar situation in copper.
The Companies.
Atlantic. Gulf a West Indies o. 8.
1890 S. preferred share earnings. based
on average number Of shares oltstand-
ing, $4.96 against 322.67.
Childs Co. April sales OF 11.6 per
cent; months. of IL per cent.
First National Store sales. four weeks
ended April IS, OF 80 per cent; De-
cember 81 to April IS, OF SO per cent;
tonnage sales up III per cent, four
weeks to April IS.
General Motors April retail Frigidaire
sales up n per cent over March, car
load shipments up 23 per cent: May
production expected to be - per cent
higher than year ago.
Island Creek coal April output about
100000 tons. against 332220 in March
and 392,6e1 year ago,
Lerner Stores April sales up IL per
cent: 4 months, up 1913 per cent.
Magma Copper to cease operations
for six weeks beginning June IL.
Chicago q Northwestern Railway
April gross expected to show drop of
10 per cent from year ago.
Great Atlantic a. Pacific Tea opens
store in Seattle, its first retail store in