Up Sentiment, Up Trade

What businessmen thought about business in the past few months has been more important than business itself. By last week, however, the state of sentiment had so improved that businessmen were once more concerned with the state of trade. They had pondered the President's reassuring fireside talk; they knew that Big Business was again a welcome White House caller; they read a lot about the Roosevelt "truce" with industry and banking. And if there was still any doubt about the Administration's mellowing attitude, it should have been dismissed by the haste with which the President and his lieutenants shot down the little inflation balloon which hovered over Washington for a day or two last week. Just to be sure the balloon was grounded, the Treasury called nearly $2,000,000,000 of high-coupon Fourth Liberty Loan bonds for redemption six months hence, thus practically eliminating the possibilities of dollar-tinkering before next April.

But inflation talk jiggled the stockmarket into the first million-share day in weeks. Prices rounded out a month-long rise from the year's low in September, and Wall Street approached cheerfulness. Steel was a few steps out of the bog. Electric power production topped the 1933 line for the first time in six weeks. Loans to businessmen swelled another $34,000,000. bringing the total expansion since the middle of August to $224,000,000.

A definite end to the decline in production and the slow, steady expansion of credit were heartening, but the most impressive business news continued to dwell on the way John Citizen was crowding the counters of the nation's stores. Chain-store sales were running 13% above last year, department store sales in some cities were up as much as 35%. September mail order sales were up 42%. It took no statistical microscope to perceive that the long downward sweep of the business curve had, at last, a little upward hook on the end of it.

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