Economic Outlook

r I ''HE “flight” of gold from the United ■ States has been exercising the minds of experts in recent weeks. Looking into their little crystal balls, they are making all sorts of prognostications, some good, some bad, of what the effect is likely to be in this neck of the woods.

It has been suggested that America might be forced to raise the price of gold —something she has strenuously resisted for years—a'nd this would be very good, indeed, for such countries as New Guinea —where the price of gold has remained constant while everything else now costs four or five times as much.

Another suggestion—and this would be bad —is that the US, in order to correct the situation, might make it more difficult for foreign countries to sell to America.

However, the rundown of US gold re serves cannot be attributed to excess of imports over exports so much as to private US investment overseas, from which Aus tralia has derived its share of benefit.

In the last 16 months, US gold reserves

have shrunk by 2.5 billion dollars Ai. although gold reserves of over 20 billijii dollars remain, they are at the lowev point since 1946.

On the Australian homefront. ft economic experts are giving themselwl plenty of cold shivers over the reports perfection, in Italy, of a wonder synthefa which, when mixed with about 15 p cent, of pure wool, is far, far better,# they say, than the pure Merino.

The gloom was not helped by an ear May check to the recovery in wool pricu (During April prices rose by about I per cent, from the lowest point reachc! in January).

Synthetics, such as terylene, have h; spectacular repercussions on the wool ii dustry, and for Australia an even bettt “wonder” fibre would be no laughffif matter.

So far the Stock Exchange index shojo no reaction, and stood at 243.8 for j ordinaries on May s—about nine poiii higher than a month ago.

Sydney Sales Prices

April 8 May 7 I Burns Philp ... 65/6 75/- 1 Burns Philp (SS) . . 50/- 54/- J

C.S.R

£47 £ 52/7/r Dylup Plantations 18/1 Va 19/6 1 Hackshalls 50/6 50/9 Kauri Timber ... 20/- 18/6 I Kerema Rubber . . . 11/- 11/- I Koitaki 14/3 15/- I Lolorua 7/6 7/3 1 Mariboi 6/8 6/3 I Norfolk Is, Whaling 3/7 3/1 I Queensland Insurance 69/- 70/- 1 Rubberlands ... 5/- 5/5 1 Sthn. Pac. Insurance 16/6 17/6 1 Steamships Trading . 50/3 51/9 1 W. R. Carpenter Hold.

IS/lOVa 17/1 Via Timor Oil 6/7 6/3 ]

Oil And Mining Shares

Fiji

July 9, *58 April 8

May!’

Emperor . b5/9 s7/9 b7 3 Loloma . . — b33/b33/S

Papua-New

Guinea

Bulolo . . . b35/b35/b35/J' N.G.G. Ltd. bl/9 J / 2 b2/7 b2/3|£ Oil Search b2/6 blO/4 b6 1( Ent. of N.Q. b7d b6d b6di Papuan Apia b9d b3/ll b4 /«$ do. opt. . b6V2d b2/2 b2/m Placer Dev. b86/6 blOO/b99/l\ Sandy Creek b4d b2»/ 2 d b2d|