Business: At the Half

As U.S. business balanced its books for the first half of 1960, profits often fell short of record 1959. The reason was no big slump in business—most sales were as good as or better than last year—but rising costs that chewed up profits, and high inventories caused by overoptimistic expectations. With the U.S. consumer presumably poised to buy at an even faster clip in the second half of 1960, most businessmen were confident that better profits were on the way.

Compact Pangs. U.S. motorists found the new compacts just their size, and auto sales boomed. G.M. racked up an alltime record for...