SECURITIES: Bad Scare

The London stockmarket tumbled sharply under the impact of the Empire crisis (see FOREIGN NEWS). A selling wave sent common stocks crashing down eleven points to 119 on the Financial Times index, their worst fall since Dunkirk. Even consols (British Government bonds), which are generally regarded by Britons to be as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, sagged to a two-year low, then rallied slightly. The scare caused a shiver in Wall Street, where the ten-week long upswing in stock prices suddenly halted. The Dow-Jones industrial index dropped 3.85 points from the July high of 187.66. This week the market slipped off again, with steel and automobile shares leading the drop.