Stock Market Review: Still Above 1929 Top
Harold B. jporsey, Wall Street analyst, reviews the decline of the past seven v/eeks in the stock market . and points out that prices are still ipo per cent higher than three years ago; Page D*18.</br></br>The stock market closed on Friday at a price level which is just about 100 per cent higher than it was three years ago when it started an upward trend that was not subject to any serious interruptions. The latest price level is about 80 per cent higher than the famous 1929 peak. Incidentally, the market has declined about 7 to 10 per cent (depending on which stock price average you look at) from the all-time peak which was registered about seven weeks ago.</br></br>This seems to be one of those times when the ÛÏincidentalÛ is attracting much more attention than the long-term perspective. Stock price declines of as much as 10 per i cent are not especially unusual, and when the setbacks are limited to that proportion there usually is no adverse psychological effect upon the individuals or the businessmanÛªs propensity to spend.</br></br>But each time a stock market decline approaches 10 per cent within a brief period, there tends to be a mounting concern about the possibility that the current weakness might be the move that will develop into something more serious. And that seems to describe the state of mind of business analysts and investment managers at this juncture.</br></br>Last week I had occasion to visit with numerous investment managers in traditionally conservative Boston and I found a considerably greater degree of skepticism about common stock investments in that quarter than seems to be present in either - New York or Washington.