THE EXCHANGES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 23, 27 July 1911, Page 7

THE EXCHANGES.

FALL IN LEADING STOCKS. (Received July 27, 8.5 a.m.) LONDON, 26th July, Consols are quoted tit £77 16s 3d, a fall of 16s 3d since Friday last. German bonds and French Rentes have also fallen in price, lowest pricf touched. a slight"recovery. rumours of"t"conference. (Received July 27, 10 a.m.) ' LONDON, 26th July. Consols touched £77 15s, but recovered Blightly, the closing price being £78 6s. On tho Stock Exchange there are rumours that the Powers have arranged for a conference on the Moroccan question to be held in October, Germany withdrawing meanwhile. A fOTtnighl, ago Consols dropped to £78 3s 9d, the lowest point touched since 1831. T\j market, however, recovered slightly, and the closing price for the day (llth July) was £78 10s. The commercial editor of the Sydney Telegraph, commenting on tho fall, wrote :— "The cloud over the British Consols market does not lift, and it cet* tainly dons not do to prophesy when it will do so. That on Tuesday the price fell to a lower point than lor seventy years past will tehd still further to shake the faith of high finance in tho attractions of the security as an investment. At the recent bahkeTs 5 dinner in London Lord Morley drew a comparison 1 between the holder* of British Consuls and those of French Rentes. He said s 'The accounts open in French Rentes were 4,630,000, representing an average vftluH of £200 apiece. What is the case with us here ? We had 144,398 accounts open in Consols, and the average valuft of those holdings was £3684. There are 153,000 purchasers who have bought Consols or other Government securities through the Savings Bank, but they do not appear on the Consols books. But putting them altogether there are not over 300,000 holders of Consols in this country. Well, that is a very serious social fact. What the root of it may be 1 certainly will not attempt to-nignt to explore, but it is a remarkable fact, and I do not think it is a Very comfortable fact.' "The French regard it almost &s a. duty and privilege to invest in their Government stock, while in England such investments are made by financial undertakings, trustees, and the savings banks— seldom by the private individual or the small investor. There are various reasons for this difference. Otto ia that the average British investor i* taught to look further afield, atid to expect a better return than Consols afford. But the fact remains that at the present time French Rentes stand rehv tively higher in market value than British Consols. The world's highest gold* edg6d seciiritieft are :— Market Yield. Price. £ s d United States 2 p.c, 1930 101* 110 6 French 3 p.c. Rente 96j 3 2 2 British 2i p.e. Consols lsay)80 3 2 6 Dhtch 24 p.c. ... 734 3 8 0 Canadian 3 p.c, 1938 924 3 8 6