(Bear with me as I try to represent a table and transcribe teeny‐tiny numbers. Also, some of the fractions have no unicode characters, so I used decimals.)

INVESTMENT NOTES

---

Hitler and the Markets.—The behaviour of the stock markets this week has afforded reassuring evidence that London continues to possess the qualities appropriate to an international centre in time of crisis.

Hitler's coup caused little selling, and no trace whatever of panic, although the full realisation of the European crisis put the market nervously on the defensive on Thursday. The markets, in fact, adopted the technique which stood them in good stead in the Wall Street crash of 1929 and, to name a more recent instance, in the “Sanctions crisis” of last September.

Dealers, as an initial precaution, marked down the quotations of securities on a moderate scale, and, for two days, the market “stood fast.” On Thursday, however, renewed selling and a disinclination to keep a wide book by most jobbers brought considerable falls in all sections.

The ordinary share index of The Financial News fell from 112.9 on Friday of last week to 111.2 on Monday and 109.4 on Thursday. The impact of the crisis on the prices of individual securities may be gathered from the following table:—

Stock or Share 1935 High Low Feb.19, 1936 Mar.6, 1936 Mar.9, 1936 Mar.12, 1936 Change this Week

2½% Consols… 94⅜ 80 85¾ 85½xd 85.375xd 84⅜xd −1½
3½% Conversion… 112⅞ 100½ 109.642 107½ 106⅜ 105⅞ −1½
3½% War Loan … 110⅛ 101½ 107.071 107 106¾ 105⅞ −1⅓

Associated Portland Cement (£1) … 68/9 39/− 79/7½ 88/4½ 86/− 83/1½ −5/3
Courtaulds (£1) … 60/7½ 47/6 55/4½ 53/− 52/6 51/1½ −1/10½
Imperial Cont. Gas (£100) 222½ 175 177¾ 177 168 168½ −8½
Imperial Tobacco (£1) … 7.687 6.468 7.718 7.687 7.656 7½ −0.028
General Electric (£1) … 75/7½ 45/9 80/4½ 79/− 77/6 75/9 −3/3
Turner and Newall (£1)… 71/6 51/7½ 76/4½ 77/10½ 76/10½ 73/6 −4/4½

Fairey Aviation (10/−) … 30/− 19/4½ 41/6 37/7½ 39/− 39/7½ +2/−
Bristol Aeroplane (10s.)… 73/− 52/3 77/− 79/9 78/9 76/10½ −2/10½
Hawker (5s.) … 33/6 24/3 33/3 31/3 31/− 30/− −1/3
Hawker‐Siddeley (5s.) … 27/3 15/6 32/9 30/− 29/10½ 28/9 −1/3

Hadfields (10s.) … 19/10½ 13/6 25/4½ 24/4½ 24/1½ 24/− −4½d
Vickers (6s. 8d.) … 21/7½ 8/9 27/4½ 25/1½ 24/11 25/− −1½d

Investment

Resolute Markets.—It may be argued that the Stock Exchange has been deceiving itself this week, but the fact is inescapable that as the crisis has lengthened, hopes have revived, and with that revival prices have made a sharp response. Under present technical conditions, hope, however insubstantial it might be, was bound to produce that result.

Trading has naturally been restricted to the minimum, and brokers’ activities have been concentrated on the establishing of emergency sub‐offices and the safeguarding of records. Even with imminent apprehension of war, American and British security prices are no lower, on the average, than in April and February respectively this year. Viewed against the political background, indeed, the stock market’s behaviour during the past month has shown astonishing composure.

The accompanying chart reveals, indeed, that the rate of decline both in London and New York was in no way more severe than in earlier reactions this year.

---

The market, however, would be hard put to find positive reasons for this week’s price movements, though some investors translated wishful thinking into new buying on Wednesday. The following table, which includes leading securities in all sections of the Stock Exchange list, shows the widespread extent of the gains:—

Name of Security Minimum Price Aug.24, 1939 Aug. 25, 1939 Aug. 28, 1939 Aug. 29, 1939 Aug. 30, 1939 Aug. 31, 1939

Consols. 2½% … 62½ 62½ 62⅞ 62.937 64⅜ 65¾ 65
War Loans 3½% … 88½ 88½ 88¾ 88½ 89⅛ 90.812 90¼
Conversion 2½%, 1944–49 93¼xd 94½ 93¼xd 93⅜xd 93¾xd 93¼xd 93½
Conversion 4½, 1940–44 100¾ 101¼ 100¾ 101 100.781 101⅜ 101

Sep.28 1938 Low

German 5% … 19½ 23 23½ 23½ 25 29½ 29
Japan 5½%, 1930 … 35 34 37 39 40 45 44
G.W.R. ord. … 33 26½ 26½ 26½ 28½ 28½ 26
L.M.S. 1923 pref. … 24½ 33½ 33½ 33½ 37½ 37½ 36½
L.N.E. 2nd guar. 55½ 54½ 54½ 54½ 55½ 56½ 55
Southern pref. ord. … 50 56 56 56 57 58 56

B. Am. Tob. (£1) … 3.076 4⅛ 4¼ 4.437 4.562 4¾ 4.454
Brit. Oxygen (£1) … 3¼ 3⅝ 3.562 3⅝ 3.687 3¾ 3.781
Courtaulds (£1) … 26/− 26/− 27/− 27/3 28/9 30/− 28/6
Dunlop (£1) … 22/6 25/− 25/7½ 25/7½ 26/3 27/6 27/−
I.C.I. (£1) … 26/3 28/3 29/− 29/9 30/− 30/6 29/3
Marks and SPencer (5s.)… 42/6 55/− 55/− 55/− 56/3 58/9 58/1
Tube Invest. (£1) … 70/− 87/− 85/− 85/− 85/− 86/3 86/3
Vickers (10s.) … 17/6 16/3 16/3 16/3 17/3 17/9 17/4

Sub Nigel (10s.) 10¼ 10⅜ 10½ 11⅛ 10⅞ 10⅞ 10⅞
West Wits. (10s.) … 4⅜ 3⅞ 4 1¼ 4⅞ 4⅞ 4
Rhokana (£1) … 9.031 10¼ 10⅝ 11⅜ 11½ 11½ 11¼
“Shell” Transport (£1)… 33.812 3.968 4.093 4¼ 4.312 4.312 4.156
Trinidad Leaseholds (£1) 4.437 3⅞ 3.937 4⅛ 4⅛ 4¼ 4.281
Allied Sumatra (£1)… 11/3 13/6 14/4½ 14/4½ 15/− 15/− 15/6

Financial News Indices—
Ordinary shares … 73·7 74·1 74·8 75·3 77·5 78·8 77·
Fixed interest secs. 120·0 112·6 112·1 111·7 112·1 113·4 113·