GAMBLING TIP ~~ BUY BRITISH
LONDON -- Nowhere in England can the true pulse of class relations be taken more accurately than in the famous City -- the financial district, For months this community has been in turmoil over the prospect of a Labour victory in the October election. Experts have been practically wrecking computers trying to devise various hedges against such a calamity, making up suitable portfolios of local and foreign stocks, government bonds and equities that might give their coupon-clipping clientele the best life raft.
Private companies have been rushing feverishly to convert themselves into public enterprises so as to take advantage of membership in the Stock Exchange Club and the favorable conditions granted to capital issues by the Tories, But the worst worries are evident among the big trusts and cartels, who scheme day and night against the threat so clearly poised over their vested interest, The following items from the July 9 Evening Standard indicates how ingenious some of the calculations are:
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Some fascinating cross-Atlantic moves are going on which could have a noticeable effect on share prices in some of the more unfashionable market sections.
They result from advice which one or two of the more astute merchant bankers are giving their clients, particularly in industries like heavy engineering and special steel making.
The Labour Party is now on record disclaiming nationalisation ambitions beyond steel, road haulage, water and urban land. So in theory, the directors of these companies ought to have nothing to fear,
But even without attributing any double-think to the Socialists, they still don't find it easy to sleep peacefully at night,
Special circumstances might crop up, they fear, which might lead to nationalisation in their industries. A second term of office for Labour, for instance. Or an unexpectedly heavy Labour majority this time.
The question they posed to their advisors, therefore, was this: How do we make ourself nationalisation-proof?
The answer was a subtle one. A Labour Government would obviously have to make a particularly great effort to keep Anglo-American relations happy.
Now, one thing more than any other would be calculated to put
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America in a huff: a Labour grab. of companies with significant numbers of American shareholders, Particularly if ‘the take-over was on poor ‘terms, ag
Conclusion: Get yourself some American shareholders ~~ and keep the share price up.
This is what the companies were told. And the result -- a notable increase in trans-Atlantic travel by merchant bankers (and others) out to interest American institutions and private investors in the companies for which they act.
On the whole, their trips seem to have been successful, and close market observers have already noticed U.S. investment interest in some unexpected shares,
-Davy~Ashmore, for instance, has been boosted by U.S. buying, So have one or two others, :