FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW

Hokitika Guardian, 10 January 1922, Page 4

FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW

(THE -stows: ,exchange.

1 LONDON, January 7. j rßusiness on the Stock -Exchange <iin the first uwepk of ,- tho -New lYear has been ,somewhat disappointing, .various i'/ictors - contributing to dullness, .notably some fairly large selling orders, , rumours of a. general. election, considerable profit-taking, and last but not least, new issues by South Australia Chile, the , Bristol Corporation, Buenos Aires and the .Western. Railway, aggregating nearly' eight millions. All these were over-subscribed, Bristol’s one million -,5i I .per .-cent issued at - ninety-six beintr subscribed ;'.five-fold also in two hours'. This heavy susberip'tion diverted i.money ;. from existing stocks and caused a -flatness for I British gilt-edged stock, especially ps it was known in , the street l that fresh, issues .-were, coming. The, fact ..that Bristol was able to Cpequre a l .loan,,nt .a half,.per. cent cheaper I than-South Australia, caused some commerit i.in. colonial , circles. The , explanation is..simple. In .the first place corS.'.ppration.stoqks. are .always,.popular with '.the investing public, (who also like j their security near at hand. Secondly, .Bristol, ..is a thriving community " With a ,population pf 377,000,.- with an 1 indebtedness of a. little over £9,000,000. ! .THE. MONEY MARKET.

Easy conditions continue in,the money market. Yesterday’s Treasury Bills were allotted at a fraction under '6ss per cent the . lowest on record, reviving hope of a reduction in the bank rate before. long.

THE BUTTER MARKET. The butter market is more cheoifill. The present low retail pric-es are stimulating demand and large quantities are going into consumption. 'New 'Zetland butter is retailing at Is Id per lb and good Australian at Is 2d and occasionally at a Shilling. Traders ar‘e hopeful now the public have got‘buck’to ■butter‘that the consumption will grow and prices recover somewhat. If only the incubus of Government stofcks--and fear pf their b&mg thrown on 4the-mar-ket can be removed the position Will be. hopeful. The • public' have got tired of ..margarine. Only the poorest will buy it .when good '• butter can ‘be 'procured at ..about sixteen to eighteen .penco. The: margarine (trade'is already feeling ■ Die effect ■of competition ,an’d consumption. is considerably be-low .normal despite a reduction in prices, - consequently : there .is a great weakness in the .market, for : all descriptions of oilbearing material, < notably copra.

THE AVOOL TRADE. The year opens favourably for the wool trade. The outlook is brighter than at any time in 1921. There is a strong demand in all the world’s wool (markets. General .(opinion both in Bradford and . London is that the sales on .Tuesday next will open with a 10 per cent advance over December closing rates. There is still a great scarcity of fine' tops, the production of which is .barely sufficient to meet the present requirement, and top-makers are very strong in their ideas of prices for sixty- fours. The demand for low and medium cross-bred tops is also improving and the advance in cross-bred prices at the .Timaru sales has been a welcome surprise to life market, giving rise to the hopes that cross-bred values may soon reach a proper level compared with merinoes. Another satisfactory feature is the improvement in the heavy woollen trade. One Dewsbury firm lias commenced running machinery night and day after a lapse of many months and other mills are able to give their employees more work. They are not receiving orders for large quantities hut repeat orders are coming fairly from the colonies and the 'Continent.

’B'A-NKRUiPTCrk-S OF 1921. The severity of the general trade depression,of '1921 is illustrated by the number of bankruptcies, which in the United Kingdom itotWlied 2495 compared with 1549 the previous year and 753 in 1919. SHIPPING DEPRESSION. The Turner Davidson Company writes that the depression in shipping values has been accentuated by the throwing into the market of various fleets of steamers and forced sales of new steamers which owners have been unable to complete. There is no guarantee that more fleets, especially t'hoso purchased at high prices, may not ‘bo thrown on the market. Owners of pre-war boats cannot hope to do more than make ends meet until trade improves sufficiently Lo induce a large proportion of lnidtip tonnage to resume business. The prospects for shipbuilding are worse than ever. Tramp tonnage cannot be built under £l2 per ton, which is prohibitive. In the absence of -orders it is only a question of time before a great many yards must close.