Outstanding among exceptions to the rule of prosperous, optimistic midyear statements were the balance sheets of U. S. automobile tire companies. Sales figures, if not exuberant, were satisfactory. But income figures were disheartening. Net income of the "biggest" Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. dropped from $6,364,005 (Jan.-June, 1927) to $3,074,200 (Jan-June, 1928). For B.F. Goodrich Co., a profit of $5,813,501 turned into a deficit of $1,574,889. Fisk Rubber Co.'s huge deficit was $4,983,134.
Causes of this unhappy situation were not obscure. In December, 1926, leading U. S. tire manufacturers formed the American rubber pool, proceeded during the next year to accumulate a...
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