Abstract

Finance

Up to the middle of last week the attention of the stock exchange had continued to converge almost exclusively on shares of industrial companies. The railway shares had remained in the background. Only the slightest activity appeared In the daily transactions in that part of the market. Prices for the best-known investment shares of that group stood 2 to 6 points above the lowest of the year-touched, as a rule, during the last dispute with Germany. The sudden turning of speculative attention to the railway shares brought forward a somewhat new point of view regarding the financial future. During several months, Wall Street has interested itself alternately in the possibility of a breach with Germany and in the economic uncertainties which would follow return of peace in Europe.