Facts & Figures

April Showers. In its bullish upswing, the New York Stock Exchange rolled up the heaviest April trading since 1937, and the biggest in any month since September 1946. The total: 34,612,565 shares, a daily average of 1,300,000 in the 26 trading sessions. But at month's end the market sagged; the Dow-Jones industrial averages, at 180.58, were down almost three points for the week.

Sun & Clouds. U.S. bankers, nagged by the inflation-conscious American Bankers Association, were tightening up on credit. For the sixth week in a row, Federal Reserve member banks showed a drop in commercial, industrial and agricultural loans. They were down $500 million below the January peak of $14.7 billion. But consumer credit, which had been dropping in January and February, rose 4% in March to a new high of $13.4 billion.

Target's Reply. The New York Central System, chief target of Robert R. Young's advertising campaign to modernize railroading, ordered 91 diesel locomotives (at a cost of $15.6 million) in addition to 111 already on order.

Opening Door. The Department of Commerce relaxed restrictions on exports to Russia and its satellites. Export licenses, previously required for all goods worth more than $100, will no longer be needed for items with no military value. Samples: pots & pans, knives & forks, breeding horses, electric toasters.

Expansion. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. announced the biggest research program in its history. It will spend $30 million to expand laboratories at Wilmington and build ten new ones. Said President Crawford H. Greenewalt on the importance of research: "Today 20,000 Du Pont employees [make] products which either didn't exist or were not produced commercially in 1936."

Slim Margin. Pan American Airways announced 1947 gross passenger and air freight revenues of $108 million, the first time in airline history a line had topped $100 million. Pan Am's net of $2.9 million, down $23,278 from 1946, was only 2% on its gross income of $142.3 million.

Thicker Frosting. While many plane manufacturing companies are in the red, North American Aviation's J. H. ("Dutch") Kindelberger turned in a $753,439 Profit (v. a $663,065 deficit last year) for the six months ended March 31. Employment of 20,190 was 77% of North American's wartime peak.

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