TV Parade

"Television," said Manhattan's Bache & Co., "continues to be the industry with the most dynamic outlook for 1950." Most Wall Streeters seemed to think so too. Day after day last week, television stocks, which have been leading the advancing bull market, skittered up on the New York Stock Exchange, giving the whole list a fillip. Emerson Radio & Phonograph, which had been as low as 15 only 4 1/2 months ago, soared 4 5/8 points to 26 7/8. Admiral Corp., which jumped from 18 to 29 1/4 a few months ago and then split its stock two for one, was back up to 23 1/2 again. By week's end, thanks to the lift of the TV shares, many another stock had hit a bull market high. The Dow-Jones industrial average had risen 4.95 points to 205.03, the highest since July 1946.

There was plenty of good news behind the market's rise. Despite the steel strike last fall, U.S. Steel reported that 1949 earnings had set a 20-year record of $165.9 million, and raised the quarterly dividend from 50-c- to 65-c- a share. This week General Motors Corp. likewise raised its quarterly dividend from $1.25 to $1.50. The construction industry was also still prosperous ; the Labor and Commerce Departments reported that the value of new construction in January totaled $1.5 billion, a new record for the month.

Department-store sales for the week ended Jan. 28 also edged above the same 1949 period. And there seemed to be few signs of a seasonal drop in auto demand. Nevertheless, some automakers thought they saw stiff competition ahead, and got ready for it. Hudson Motor Car Co. cut prices on some of its higher-priced models, and Studebaker made a slash of from $82 to $135 on its 1950s.

How long would the bullishness last? As the stock market started off this week with a slight drop, many an investor kept a sharp watch on the growing troubles on the union front (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) and a sharp increase in seasonal unemployment that boosted the jobless to 4,480,000, highest since the war. Until the labor troubles were settled, Wall Streeters thought it likely that the bull market might take a breather.

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