Evening star., 1936-12-06
BUSINESS SCORES
WIDESPREAD GAINS
over 1885 LEVELS
Retail Trade Rises Sharply.
Industrial Pace Better
Than Seasonal.
STEEL OUTPUT CLIMBS
BACK TO YEARS PEAK
Wholesale Activity Indicates 1885
Christmas Volume Will Run
Close to 1929 Mark.
BY THOMAS E. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.

BY THOMAS Z. FLANAGAN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.
Spurred by quickening Christmas
buying, the Nations retail trade ran
swiftly forward last week while steel
production, electric power output and
freight carloadings turned in better
than seasonal performances.
The Associated Press index Of In
dustrial activity rose to e9.2. highest
since November, 1929. A week ago it
stood at 988, a year ago $50.
Business moved ahead on many
fronts to establish widespread gains
over the same period of last year."
the Department of Commerce said in
its survey Of 81 cities.
Retail sales we're stimulated by a
mounting holiday demand everywhere
which in some instances ran to such
lengths that difficulty was beginning
to appear in securing delivery of mer-
chandise.
wholesale lines were stimulated by
the same influences, and the outlook
gave further credence to predictions
that the 1885 Christmas season will
run close to that Of 1929 in retail and
wholesale turnover"
Rail Orders Mount.
Swept ahead by a rising tide Of
railway equipment orders, the steel
industry stepped up production to
equal the high Of the year, 759 per
cent Of capacity. This compared with
74.3 per cent the previous week and
56.4 per cent in the like week last
year, the American Iron g. Steel In.
stitute said
The boom in railway equipment
buying was explained in business cir
cles in terms of robust October gains
in net railway operating income and
general improvement in railroad
credit.
Sample Of the buying was the $40.
3o3, ,s25 equipment order placed by the
locomotives and rails. An idea Of
improved credit conditions in the rail
field was New York Central's repay.
ment Of Reconstruction Finance Corp.
loans Of s16.858,e5o five years before
maturity. The railroad did not have
to borrow elsewhere.
Improved railroad earnings were
further reflected by freight carload
ings which have been heavier than
seasonal. almost without interruption,
since last Spring.
Freight Loadings Of.
Although loadings dropped abruptly
owing to the Thanksgiving holiday,
the decline in the week ended Mo-
vember % was less than normal,
traffic analysts said. The 679,984 cars
reported by the Association of Amer
lean Railroads, Furthermore, was 1879
per cent above the comparable week
of 1885.
Also slackening less than seasonally,
electric power output for the week
ended November % was up 1877 per
cent over the same week last year.
The total of 2,133,511, 900 kilowatt
hours reported by the Edison Electric
Institute showed a widening of the
rate of gain over 1885. In the week
ended November 81, the rise over last
year was 12.4 per cent.
| Automobile production was a little
lower at 100,545 units, compared with
| 104 ,2S3 the week before and $3.50
in the like week last year, Grams re-
port disclosed.
Labor Costs Feared
Two things engaged the attention
of observers of that industry: Cd Pre-
diction of Alfred P. Sloan, jr, presi-
dent of General Motors, that output
in 1897 will match production OF
1929; (2) Fears that demands for
higher wages by workers in the motor
supply industry might leave automo-
bile makers with higher costs and
thus impair profit margins.
Observers watching closely to gauge
| the outlook for earnings margins in
other fields were impressed with the
way various raw material prices
pushed forward to new recovery highs
despite selling.
| On the weeks new high" list were
crude rubber. hides, cocoa, coffee anc
cottonseed oil.
An important straw in the trade
wind was the gain OF 76,300 stations
scored in November by the Bell Tele-
phone System 1t compared with an
increase of $500 in that month last
year. The latest rise was expected
to contribute Importantly to a gain
for the entire year estimated at more
than 100000.
The week produced a good-sized
crop of extra. special and higher
dividends. some wage increases and
reports of increased corporate earn
ings.
On the New York Stock Exchange
shares shifted down under the infiu-
ence, brokers said. of wage disagree
ments between industrial works and
employees, the constitutional impaSse
of Great Britain over the Kings re-
ported marriage plans and Wall Street
| fears of further regulations. )
In the bond market traders showed
| (See BUSINESS Page G-30