Two for One

In Wall Street brokerage houses one day last week traders watched Louisville & Nashville Railroad common soar 7 3/4 points, close at $110--up $40 from its 1944 low. Two days later L. & N. directors decided to split the $100 par value blue chip stock two shares for one, the first major split in a rail stock since that of C.& O. in 1930.

L. & N's rise is typical of the railroads' wartime boom. The stream of freight to Southern industries and troops to & from Southern camps boosted L. & N.'s gross from $88 million in 1939 to $178 million for the first ten months of 1944. Net profits this year should run well over $15 million, double those of five years ago.

The stock split started Wall Street buzzing with rumors that L. & N. would soon be merged with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., which controls 51% of L. & N. stock. But L. & N. directors denied the rumor. Their only announced reason for cutting the value of the stork 50%: more investors can now afford to buy L. & N.

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