Financial Notes
POLITICS AND MARKETS.
INTEREST during the past week has been focussed upon the Economic Conference, and especially upon the problem of War Debts ; the latter point has pressed the more heavily upon the minds of people by reason of the fact that last Thursday was the date for the next instalment upon the War Debt obligations to the United States. Notwithstanding very sober views with regard to the outcome of the Con- ference, the tone of the stock markets has been fairly cheerful, more especially as regards home and foreign in- dustrial concerns. This firmness, however, has been largely the refleCtion of cheerfulness in Wall Street and that in its turn seems to have been due to factors the lasting value of which seems to be rather doubtful. During the week there has been quite a slump in the American dollar, and while this, combined with expectations of the inflation programme being carried out in earnest in America ere long, has stimu- lated the hopes of traders in the States, very grave doubts are expressed in many quarters about the endurance of a trade revival engineered on the lines which are at present being adopted. In the South African Mining market there has been a rather sharp fall in prices owing to the announce- ment in the Union Government Budget of the taxation proposals being more severe than had been expected. At the moment of writing, however, there .is a good deal of uncertainty as to whether the terms of the new proposals are fully understood, and, if understood, whether they are final, and consequently a hesitant tone has characterized markets during the week.
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