Evening Star Newspaper, February 12, 1931, Page 14

A-14 = SHARP INVENTORY REDUCTIONS NOTED Preliminary Trade -Reports Indicate Extent of Cur- tailment Program. “Business indices portray a long pe- rlod of curtailed manufacturing activity and of contracted trade,” says the Alex- ander Hamilton Institute. *Since Mid- summer of last year speculation has been indulged in over the question how far inventories were depleted. Obvious- 1y, if production sinks to such a low ebb that even current inactive demand blots up stocks on hand in retail stores and 19 wholesalers' warehouses, a Te- vival of manufacturing must occur for replacement. The consensus of opinion has been that inventories are well de- pleted.. It will remain for annual bal- ance sheets to supply more adequate data. “As yet the number of reports at hand ¢over too few companies to enable | more than a beginning of estimating the inventony situatizn to be attempted. The reports at hand bear out the gen- eral . opinion .that inventories are ma- terially lower. But the bare comparison of in ventory totals presents a misleading picture. Inventories are given in dol- lars. With the practice of marking stocks to cost or market, whichever is Jower, the yvear end figures represent generally two factors—the reduced Stocks and the lower prices at which those stocks are carried. If an indi- cated decline in inventories, then, has been no greater than the general de- cline in prices, it may be that volume has not been reduced to anything like the extent indicated by a comparison of dollar totals alone. For the purpose of a general yardstick in measuring the price decline, the rate of 16 per cent applying to finished goods and 25 per cent applying to raw materials may be taken. These measurements are, of course, general and the conclu- slons drawn from a comparison of inventory figures with them are also general. Retail Stocks. wrhe greatest interest attaches prob- ably to retail stocks, There are avai able the balarice sheets of four large retail chains, selling both by mail and over the counter. Their combined bal- ance sheets show inventories at the end of last year amounting to $155,164,- 000; compared with $194.997,000 at the end of 1920. This is a decrease of 20 per cent, or greater than the general drop in finished goods prices. The gen- eral conclusion would be that inven- tories here appear to have been well reduced. Taking next two sllied groups, man- ufacturers of clothing and textile man- ufacturers, @ different situation obtains. The réports of seven clothing manu- facturers show that on December 31, 1930, inventorics were _$16,778,000, whereas a year previous they stood at $24,125,000. This is a decrease of, 29 per cent in the course of the year and greater than the general decline in fi THE EVENING S WASHINGTON, o. C i'A EBRU ished goods. The condition here sug- gested is one of genuine inventory de- pletion. Four textile mills showed in- ventories of $15,607,000, a figure 16 per cent under the $18,358,000 reported at the end of 1929. The decrease here is materially less than the drop in cloth- ing manufacturers’ stock, but it paral- lels the general decline in finished E‘)ods prices. Inventories are probably line with the price decline, but not exceptionally depleted. Meat packers also show an inventory shrinkage of the same rate as the de- cline in finished goods prices. The balance sheets of eight packing houses as of the year end showed $250.965.000 of inventories, compared with $297,641,- 000 at the end of 1929. Auto Inventories. The greatest decrease of any group is that of the automohile manutactur- ers. Data are at hand for three man- Pt 5 Ufacturers whose inventories were val | T7ere never'was a time, perhaps, ued at $9,781,000, compared with $16,- | When the zmount of meat the American 107,000 at the close of the previous People eat from day to day so thoroughly year, a decrease of 37 per cent. This |and definitely determined the price of | represents probably a good clean-up of | live stock. p [ motor car stocks in the course of the | The market is irrevocably a nip-and- | year, | tuck affair. Large receipts today mean A general classification of machine |lower prices tomorrow—and lighter re- manufacturers with total inventories of | ceipts tomorrow mean better prices the $36.176,000 shows a drop of 20 per cent |next day. & from the 1929 inventories of $45400,- | Under normal conditions, with beef | 000, Included in this classification are | numbers decimated as they are and with corporations manufacturing automobile |market receipts of hogs, sheep and lambs Sccessories and manufacturers of farm |running no higher than normal for this implements and equipment and electri- | time of year, prices rightfully should cal apparatus. | be_expected to rise. Instead, live steer The tobacco companfes, one group to | Prices have settled back to the lowest enjoy @ large volume of business |levels since last Midsummer; hog prices throughout the year, would be expected |are the lowest of the season and under to show no inventory shrinkage of im- | anything since Midsummer of 1924, portance. The declines are furnished | while sheep and lamb prices—promising by ‘clgar manufacturers dnd by one | extraordinary strength only last week leading company. Five tobacco manu- | —have uncovered losses of 75 cents facturers reported $215793,000 of in- |to $1. ventories, against $218,479,000 at the | end of the previous vear. The building_material and supply manufacturers show a decline of 11%: per cent in stocks on hand. Three companies reported $8.410,000 of in- b by il g total of 89,460,000 | /o ten, upturns in the live stock mar- | kets are inevitable and that if they Miscellaneous Group. get worse, even the most sagacious are There remains that miscellaneous fwh;h to predict the depths possible roup composed of companies whose | to obtain. 3 T oS readily. permit group- | The bearish influences which struck ing or which stand alone for the pres- | the cattle market last week were aug- | ent pending further reports from cor- Amented during the current market | porations in the same industry. The | period by an excessive Monday run, corporations in the miseellancous | Which gave buyers plenty of material group carried inventories of $100,020.000 | to work on and permitted them to buy | 8t%%he end of 1929. There combined |in line with what they considered beef | 1930 reports showed inventories of $85,- | to be worth. Downturns amounted to | 357,000, & decrease of 15 per cent dur- |25 to 50 cents as compared with the ing’ the year. previous week’s close and 50 cents to $1 as compared to the high time a week | earlier. | But, after the Monday run, supply figures were promptly cut off and ship- pers were faced with a starvation run of good to choice steers scaling over 0 pounds. This had the immediate effect of inducing competition, which resulted in such steers regaining about all of the Monday downturn. Lighter weight offerings of comparable grade | did not get as much competition as the heavies and finished 25 cents or more down, while lower grade steers lost 25 to 50 cents. The fact that supply figures were quickly curtailed after Monday remains the only bullish factor in the situation, which is otherwise flabby and weak be- cause of the dull tenor of the dressed trade, continued low prices on pork, eggs and other foodstuffs, and, above all, the semi-demoralized condition of the hide and offal trade. So long as starvation runs continue. RECEIPTS GOVERN LIVE STOCK PRICES IMarket Has Shown Quick Re | sponses to Law of Supply | and Demand. BY FRANK 1. WELLER, Associated Press Farm Editor. Bearish Influences. Something seems to happen to every bullish factor that develops. Market economists, now accustomed to guess- | ing wrong about 9 times out of 10, are convinced that if business conditions CHECK TOTAL GAINS. | " Payment of monthly bills caused a | sharp increase of 12 per cent in checks | cashed on individual bank accounts of | the Federal Reserve system during the | week ended February 4 as compared | with the previous week. The debits, for | comparable weeks, as announced by the | Federal Reserve Board, follow: Week ended February 4.$11,073815,000 Previous week 9,867,517.000 Same week last ye . 15,770,191,000 BANK RESOURCES GAIN. By the Associated Press | Resources of the 7,038 banks in con- | tinental United 'States, Alaska and | | Hawaii on December 31 totaled $28,799,- | | 684,000, an increase of $421,001,000 over the September 24 tot - Will Help You to Put Men toWorlk And our convenient monthly payment plan on purchases of $20 or more is still another reason to DO IT NOW! | ing either thin or half-fat offerings for | further growth and development. | Considering the kind, replacement ca | much | too high. normal shipper buying probably wm: support current or even higher prices, | but larger receipts and a wider selec- tion of cattle immediately will depress the general price level. The trade be- lieves this should serve as & warning against confusing the week’s advance on good to choice heavy steers as a general upturn. Finishers seem more interested in unloading half-fat cattle than in buy- Stocks Are Facing Friday, 13th, After Holiday in Market Return of Public to Active Trading Fills Custom- ers’ Rooms. ‘This: is one of the bearish factors which helps to hold down the market on com- mon and medium grade killing stee: BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, February 12.—The bull market, coming to life again, took a breathing spell today before facing Friday, the thirteenth. If it can take this_hurdle without & tumble there is no telling what will happen. for_even in less uncertain times Wall Street tle are the lowest they have been since last_August. The fact that shippers took a few more hogs, and that choice light- weights were increasingly scarce, caused the lighter kinds to hold up better than_heavies and to make an almost unbelievably _wide spread between heavies and lights. The spread be- tween 180 and 400 pound averages was as much as $1.70 per hundredweight. While many Chicago interests are hopeful of a price Tecovery, there is a general feeling that a fairly large sup- ply of hogs are on the threshold of the market. Others anticipate a gradual reduction in supply after next Monday on the custom of the second Monday in February often being burdened with the largest receipts of the season. Sheep and Lamb Trade. Follcwing last week's period of pros- perity the sheep and lamb trade went into a veritable tailspin. Spring-like weather was partly accountable, inas- it_retarded consumption and ultimately tled up the product in wholesale channels. But another rea- son was that lambs previously had sold on the calendar with their crossed. This may sound a bit fuzzy for such steel-trap minds as those of the money kings, but the Street works that way. The long period of depression has been a gold rush for soothsayers and as- trologers catering to the captains of finance. _These practitioners of me- dieval arts have taken millions from these supposedly hard-boiled, hard- headed and hard-fisted masters of finance. On February 2 F. B. Keech & Co., an old and reputable registered firm, with two _members holding seats on the Stock Exchange, put out this statement in its market letter: Predicting stock market movements 51 fingers All this came about in the face of smaller receipts than a week earlier. With the Colorado .and Nebraska movement getting under way, the im- mediate prospects are anything but en- couraging and have given rise to a certain amount of speculation that current prices may work still lower. The country continues to shows an active interest in feeding and shearing lambs, but is keeping its purchases in line with the trend of fat prices. Argentina exported many more pieces of frozen meat last year than in 1929. T P T S Four Rooms, Kitchen and Bath Electrical Refrigeration THE ARGONNE 16th and Columbia Road Reasonable Rentals HEAD COLDS make no headway with o M INOSTRO | NOSTRO checks your Head C fm- mediately! Use it to check 75 Cli your cold and avold FLU! At your druggist. speculators approach this fateful spot ! by astrology is mnot altogether out of date, and ‘it may some comfort to learn that, according to the stars, Febr I’; will be a more favorable month for prices than January.” Previously there had been several | predictions by astrologers that an up- turn in the market was due. ‘The public is venturing out of its hole as cautiously as the recently agi- tated ground hog, but is venturing out nevertheless. Customers’ rooms in bro- kerage houses were filled Wednesday for the first time in months. Almost without ~ exception, brokerage firms questioned by this writer said they were adding to their staffs. They are, however, taking on trained workers formerly employed, and not newcomers. Many members of clerical staffs have been recalled from extended vacations, granted on account of the depression. (Copyright. 1931.) WHOLESALE PRICES. By the Associated Press. Selling prices continued their down- | ward trend last week as the change ] ! was calculated by the Department of | | Commerce. In the figures that follow the average wholesale price is given | | for comparable periods, based on rep- | | resenting 1926 averages as 100. In addition, the selling price of a ton of | composite steel products is given for | like periods: | All Com- | Week ended February 7. | Previous week Same week last year ‘There have been coined in the course of our history !2-cent, 2-cent and 3-cent pieces. N. & W_ STEAMBOAT Same Directors Also Re- turned to Office at Annual Meeting Held Today. At the annual stockhoiders’ meeting of the Norfolk & Washington Steam- boat Co. held at general offices this noon, the following directors were elect- ed for the coming year. Woodbury B! E. C. Brandenburg, Henry N. Brawner, jr.; Wrisley Brown, |G. W. Forsberg, Willlam D. Hoover, Clarence F. Norment, Clarence F. Nor- ment, jr.; George P. Sacks, Odell S. Smith and George L. Starkey. At a subsequent meeting of the di- rectors, the following officers were elected: Clarence F. Norment, = chairman of the board; Clarence F. Norment, jr., president; G. W. Forsberg. first vice president: E. C. Brandenburg, second vice president and general counsel; Odell S. Smith, secretary and treasurer, and J. Allen Riordon, general manager. The general manager continued the following officials in their present po- sitions: 3 W. H. Callahan, trafic manager; I OFFICERS ELECTED. | | § | S. Walker, general passenger agent: J. A. Maxwell, auditor; G. E. Herring, pur- chasing agent; tending engineer: claim agent; C. H. Ray, general age; Washington; P. M. Pritchard, gene: agent, Norfolk; H. N. Larcombe, agent, Alexandria; C. S. Revell, joint agent, Old Point Comfort. ek The oldest hair tonic, made for an Egyptian queen, consisted of the paw of a dog and the hoof of an ass boiled in oil with dates. ol 1 deliciousiy _prepare nfhlhuzlm [sea"and served any si3ie TOMORROW_ NIGH 00 to 7:45 S ked Ragout of Spring Lamb Fried Ovsters c Special $1 Dinner Roast Turkey Club Plates, | COLUMBIA 5042, Delivers the New Majestic Superheterodyne Radio With the New Multi-Mu Tube. Balance in Divided Payments. LANSBURGH’S RADIO SALON Fourth Floor—7th, 8th and E Sts. 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