Bright Friday

Ever since Black Thursday of 1929, the figure 300 has had a magic meaning for Wall Street. On that October day the Dow-Jones industrial average, which had hit a peak of 386.10 in September, crashed 40 points and dropped below 300. In more than 24 years since 1929, it never reached 300 again. By mid-1930 the average bounced back 100 points to 297.25, but then started its almost uninterrupted fall to the 1932 low of 40.56. Last year the Dow-Jones average again inched up to 295.06, but got no higher. But last week on Friday (March 5, 1954), it made it. The industrial average hit a high of 300.68 and closed the day at 299.45, UP nearly five points for the week.

From industry and government last week came figures to bolster the view of investors that the worst of the business adjustment might be over. Ward's Automotive Reports announced that auto sales in February were up 12% over January, and predicted a 15% rise in March output. Plymouth recalled 7,700 workers previously laid off, but Studebaker, still having trouble with sales, shut down for a week.

In February, said the Commerce Department, construction outlays were at a new high for the month ($2.3 billion), and so far this year were running 2% ahead of 1953. Retail sales were also holding up well. General Electric, for example, reported that its sales of small appliances were 25% above last year's level. Personal income in January (at $282 billion) was $2 billion ahead of January 1953. There was no doubt that people had money to spare. Savings bond purchases totaled $422 million last month, the best February showing since 1946.

In Chicago, Chairman Robert Erastus Wilson of Standard Oil of Indiana expressed his own optimism in the future as his company reached the $2 billion mark in assets. Said Wilson: "It took us 57 years to reach $1 billion in assets, and just seven more years to reach $2 billion." Wilson, already after the third billion, announced that in the next two years Indiana Standard will spend $500 million on expansion and modernization. The oil industry as a whole, he thought, can look forward to an increase in demand this year "almost as large as that for 1953 ... or 4% to 5%."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.