Business: Commodities: Steady

Wars and rumors of wars usually cause commodity prices to rise. In the first 60 days of the Korean war, commodities went from 146.53 to 179.54 on the Dow-Jones commodity futures index. The current Mideast crisis has brought no such rise. In the two weeks since the Iraqi coup, the index actually eased down from 156.64 to 156.63. Said R. G. Patterson, director of Lamson & Sessions Co., a Cleveland metal fabricator: "We see no signs of scare buying. Nobody is excited."

Businessmen realize that the U.S. industrial scene has changed radically since 1950. At that time the shortages of World War...

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