What the Market Showed

By the middle of last week, the New York stock market seemed to be over its V-E day jitters. The slump, which began March 9 when U.S. troops jumped the Rhine, seemed to have hit bottom. For six days, stocks had climbed slowly. Then came the news of the President's death.

At first, on Friday morning, stocks slipped. Then the utility stocks, hardest hit of all by New Deal reforms, began to climb. The rest of the market scrambled after them. At the end of the 1,800,000-share day, busiest in weeks, the utilities were at 29.25, a seven years' peak.

Next day, the market was closed. Over the weekend, Wall Streeters had a chance to take thought of the new President in the White House. What they decided caused them to buy heavily when the market opened this week. On Monday, 2,500,000 shares were traded, biggest volume in nine months. In the surging rise, Dow-Jones industrial averages hit 162.43, highest since September 1937.

Plainer than any words, the buying rush gave Wall Street's coldly unsentimental opinion. It might prove to be snap judgment. But the judgment seemed to be that the reforming spirit of the New Deal which had changed the face of business in the last twelve years had died with the reformer.

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