Evening star., 1944-12-31
Bond Market Busy
With New Financing
And Rising Prices
BY GEORGE A. PHILLIPS,

NEW YORK, Dec. 3O.-A steady
rise in prices of existing issues and
the largest amount of new financing
since 1886 combined to lift the bond
market into the front ranks OF
financial activity in 1914
The seemingly fathomless reser-
Nolr of investment funds eXerted a
powerful pressure on prices of the
better rated obligations of corpora
tions of all descriptions and at the
years end the 10 loW-yield bonds in
the Associated Press averages were
lowering around $11625 per $100
bond, within a few cents of the rec
ord peak. At the end of 1943 this
index stood at $11399 and year
earlier at S11254
While this department of the
market pursued its objective in Or
derly fashion throughout the year,
spectacular exhibitions of rising
power and at times spells of acute
weakness on the part of railroad
loans, particularly those in reorgani-
zation, provided the bond depart
ment with its best low.
Many Prices Doubled.
Prices of many issues doubled be-
tween January and the middle of
December. although the uphill climb
was interrupted many times by sud-
den waves of profit taking as Specu-
latorS shifted positions from the
securities of one road to another,
often in response to special news
developments affecting individual
carriers.
Rejecting the tremendous popu-
lar demand for obligations of rail-
roads for the year as whole, the
Associated Press average of 20 rails,
containing but two of the defaulted
variety, rose from S7966 per $1O0
bond on January 2 to $96.30, an av-
erage gain of S1664, and ended the
year within few cents of that
mark In 1943 this index advanced
an average of $15.25.
While the run of the mine indus
trial bond made some progress, it
was relatively small Securities of
mand, but here, too, progress was
less spectacular than in the rails
because the industry engaged in
wholesale refundings of existing obli-
cations, thus curtailing interest to
some extent.
Foreign dollar bonds reflected the
changing tides Of the fortunes of
war but ended somewhat better
than a year earlier. A financial re-
adjustment of the large dollar bonds
of Brazil late in the summer was a
feature of this department.
United States Government secur-
tiles set the pace for stability
throughout the year. The various
war loan drives monopolized atten-
ton in this department and the
open market policy of the Federal
reserve system saw to it that the
price of Government bonds did not
go down.
New Financing Heavy.
The field of new financing was the
most active in eight years A total
of approximately s3000000,000 of
new bonds was marketed. the largest
since S4,631 GAS ,68l in 1886. OF the
aggregate, approximately S2,300,000,-
900 of it was for the purpose of re-
funding outstanding bonds with
lower interest bearing vehicles and
the remainder was for new capital
purposes.
Investment bankers and securities
dealers faced the new year with eX-
tremely bright prospects that new
security offerings would continue to
bulk large in financial affairs. At
least 81 100000 of such new pa
per, much of it for refunding, was
in various stages of preparation for
marketing between the start of
1945 and the as yet undetermined
date of the Seventh War Loan.