The Italian bourses
Tipologia: Paragrafo/Articolo – Data pubblicazione: 13/02/1909
The Italian bourses
«The Economist», 13 febbraio 1909, p. 322
The last year, writes our Italian correspondent, was a very bad one for all the Bourses of Italy, and the present has not opened better. I give in the following table the resume of the quotations of 243 amongst the foremost shares quoted in the Italian Bourses. The table follows those which were published in No. 3,391 of the Economist (August 22, 1908):
| Name of Groups | Number of Joint-Stock Companies under Consideration |
Nominal Price of the Shares at Dicember 31, 1907 | Number Index, or Relation between the Actual and Nominal Price at the End of
| |||||||
| Actual Price of the Shares at the End of | ||||||||||
|
December 1907 |
December 1908 |
January 1909 | ||||||||
| December 1907 | December 1908 | January 1909 | ||||||||
| Banks | 14 | 645,500 | 823,920 | 801,040 | 789,000 | 121M | 123,89 | 122,04 | ||
| Railways, tramways,navigation | 23 | 739,650 | 832,720 | 829,000 | 813,000 | 112,58 | 112,08 | 109,91 | ||
| Mines, foundries, iron and steel engineering works, &c | 39 | 291,956 | 437,224 | 362,000 | 352,000 | 149,75 | 123,99 | 120,55 | ||
| Electric and other lighting (gas, &c.) | 21 | 134,150 | 243,084 | 231,000 | 230,000 | 181,20 | 172,19 | 171,45 | ||
| Sugar industry | 21 | 116,450 | 181,200 | 171,000 | 165,000 | 156,03 | 146,84 | 142,55 | ||
| Water supply | 6 | 60,900 | 92,938 | 88,628 | 88,056 | 152,59 | 145,53 | 144,59 | ||
| Chemical products | 11 | 25,250 | 125,235 | 98,000 | 93,000 | 165,32 | 129,37 | 122,75 | ||
| Weaving and spinning (cotton, wool, waste silk, &c.) | 36 | 201,900 | 299,813 | 280,000 | 277,000 | 148,49 | 138,68 | 137,19 | ||
| Grinding of cereals, manufacture of macaroni, &c | 9 | 37,200 | 41,824 | 35,142 | 33,692 | 112,43 | 94,47 | 90,57 | ||
| Manufacture of motor cars | 16 | 44,900 | 38,312 | 23,500 | 23,000 | 85,32 | 52,34 | 51,22 | ||
| Land and buildingcompanies | 10 | 152,250 | 153,792 | 164,005 | 163,750 | 101,01 | 107,72 | 107,55 | ||
| Various industries | 29 | 176,673 | 295,193 | 270,000 | 267,000 | 167,08 | 152,82 | 151,12 | ||
| Total… | 213 | 2,679,279 | 3,570,765 | 3,353,275 | 3,295,498 | 133,27 | 125,15 | 122,99 | ||
As will easily be seen, there has been a continuous fall in 1908 and in the first month of 1909, so that there has been reached a lower water-mark than in October, 1907 (American crisis). The causes of the stagnation of the Italian Bourses are many. The terrible earthquake exercised a certain influence in the first days of 1909, but by the end of January its influence had already spent itself. The chief cause of the depression of today has been the exaggerations of the past. The severest fall from the high water-mark of March, 1906, to the lowest point of January 31, 1909, has been experienced in the motor-car department; the fall has been 627 per cent, where the craze was the wildest; then come the grinding of cereals industry with a fall of 103 per cent, of the nominal value; the mines, foundries, iron and steel, engineering works with 96 per cent.; the sugar industry with 91 per cent.; the chemical products industry with 77 per cent. All these industries had been greatly over-capitalised, or are basing their fortunes on Protection and Governmental favours. The electric and other lighting shares, which for a time were over-priced, have lost 52 per cent, on the face value, in part also as a consequence of municipalisations. The loss upon bank shares has been less severe, 41 per cent. The water supply companies follow with 34 per cent., the land and building shares with 24 per cent., the railways, tramways, navigation shares with 20 per cent., the cotton, wool, and silk companies with 14 per cent. One may say that the fall and the depression are almost in exact proportion to the excitement of the past. But the stagnation is today almost complete, from the distrust of the capitalist, who buys nothing but Italian Rente 3 3/4 per cent, and other gilt-edged stocks. These are the only securities for which there is a market in Italy at present. I may add that the Italian capitalists have begun to buy foreign Government securities, and have subscribed, from distrust of industrial and bank shares and dislike of the meagre interest on Italian Rente, a not indifferent sum to the Russian 4 1/2 per cent. loan.
