Monday, Mar. 31, 1930
2% Money
Bread cast on the waters of the Manhattan Call Money Market has long since ceased to come back tenfold. Last week call money hit a low of 2% and an average of 3%, compared to a low of 7% and an average of 9% for the corresponding week of 1929. Easy money contributed to an increased activity in both the bond market and the stockmarket, bond sales on the Stock Exchange going to $115,372,500 against $77,834,600 for the previous week and only $50,589,000 for the week a year ago. It was the best bond week since June 14, 1924. The stockmarket had four days in which more than 4,000,000 shares were traded in and the week's total turnover of 23,108,870 shares was the largest since Nov. 16, 1929.
Meanwhile steel production and freight car loadings--two vital indices of industrial activity--continued to decline. Orders from railroads, which had been keeping up steel production, were declining and the automobile business showed no sign of any throbbing life. The market closed the week in a "recession" brought about by unfavorable estimates, particularly from Western Union, of first quarter earnings.
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