526 THE WORK OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE
ing amounts and listed upon the New York Stock Exchange.
Foreign company internal shares began to enter the New York
market, and in 1927 the Stock Exchange formulated special
listing requirements for them.?® Finally, in 1928, the Ex-
change listed two large British Government internal war loan
issues. On January 1, 1930, there were listed on the New
York Stock Exchange 203 foreign government bond issues
with a market value of $15,045,538,473; 129 foreign com-
pany bond issues with a market value of $1,743,022,909; and
32 foreign company share issues with a market value of
$1,460,319,078. All told, therefore, foreign listings amounted
to 364 issues possessing a market value of $19,148,880,460.*
The effect of this tremendous expansion in the New York
securities market upon American foreign trade balances is
readily seen from the admirable estimate of our international
payments which the Department of Commerce has made for
1922 and every subsequent calendar year.” The classified list
of the different items composing our international trade bal-
ances for this period, shows that net new long-term invest-
ments made abroad by the United States were the largest debit
item in our invisible trade during each year except 1923 (Fig-
ure 61). The return on American investments abroad has
ranked as the leading credit item each year. On the other
hand, investments in the United States by foreigners have
ranked as the second langest credit item four years, the third
largest one year, and the fourth largest one year. These
figures clearly indicate the tremendously vital part played in
our foreign trade by the international shifting of securities.
Without the large debits in our trade balance each year for net
investments made abroad, it is difficult to see how we could
have had our large credits for “favorable” commodity trade
balance which are so vital to American cotton-growers, wheat
farmers, and other producers. In effect, the world paid for
our surplus of cotton, wheat, etc., by selling us her securities,
28 See Appendix IVe.
2 See Appendix XVIITg.
2 See Appendix XVIIIh.
