WALL STREET: Five-Day Week

Said a jubilant Wall Streeter: “We’ve finally caught up with the white-collar class.” The source of the joy on Wall Street was a decision last week by New York Stock Exchange governors to make the summer five-day week permanent. To make up for the shorter week, trading hours will be extended half an hour, -to 3:30 p.m.

In announcing the first changes in weekday trading hours in 79 years, the Stock Exchange took note of two new facts of financial life: 1) brokerage houses all over the U.S. are having trouble finding people willing to work Saturdays; 2) a recent Brookings Institution report showed that the greatest proportion of stockholders live in the Western time belt. Wall Streeters hope the new hours will result in more business. Eight weeks ago the Curb Exchange extended its closing time to 3:30, has been doing more business ever since.

Last week there was another note of joy. The Dow-Jones industrial average surged forward to 276.76, a shade higher than the peak of last September and the best level since April 30, 1930.