Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-02-13

reason 10 believe will soon advance il
price; but, of course, they want to get i
cheap, and they accomplish their obiec
by starting break in the stock. This i:
done by offering it at low figures. They
Instruct their brokers to offer small ouan
Titles under the market price, and keer
ON Offering it lower and lower, until Other
holders of the same stock, who are not liz
| their confidence, become alarmed, and
sell out at the best price they can get In
the meantime the clique have other
brokers buying all the stock that is Of
Jared and thus they get possession of 8
large amount of stock at low prices.
which they can probably sell, few DAYS
later, at large profit. The scoop
game" is one of the most profitable that
Wall street gentlemen play
The process of "washing"-a very
good one IN its ordinary sense-is often
employed N Wall street. washing" is
a peculiar operation there-very peculiar
lndeed-and the outsider ought to keep
as far as possible from the suds 4
clique is as necessary to it as to the
scoop" business. There is a stock on
the list, for instance, that the
public persists in letting alone
and the holders OF it want to
stir up some excitement in this stock
and induce the public to buy it. How
dc they proceed? Their plan is quite
simple: Several brokers-let us suppose
four-are employed to "wash" the stag
nant stock. No. l offers to SELL No. 9
takes what is offered. No 3 wants to
buy. No. sells 3 all he wants. This is
Kept up for few days, the price rising
steadily as the "wash" proceeds, but not
one share of the stock is actually sold.
But the innocent outsider, supposing
these fictitious transactions to be real.
and thinking there is a chance to make a
turn In the stock, goes in as buyer him
self. Ten to one, he will never get as
much for the stock as he paid, for it falls
stagnant again when the spectators have
got it Oft their hands.
'Copperlng" is term recently intro
duced, but very well understood in the
street. 1t means operating in direction
contrary to that of another operator,
For example, one man buys particular
stock, believing that it will advance; an
other man, observing that the first has
not been lucky in his operations, sells this
particular stock, believing that it will de-
cine. Or the first may fill a stock
short" and the second, calculating on
the others ill-luck. will buy. This sort
OF speculation is carried on only by the
smaller class of operators, and may be
set down as sheer gambling.
A "straddle" is double privilege en-
titlng the purchaser to either putt or
'call'' stock. The bonus is generally
double the amount paid for the single
privilege of "put" or "call"
A margin" is the money deposited
with the broker through whom stocks are
purchased, as security against a sudden
depreciation. The amount is generally
about ten per cent. of the par value of
the stock. Margins" are the rocks on
which so many adventures on the uncer-
tain waters of speculation are utterly
wrecked.
"Carrying," holding stocks on omar
gin, in anticipation of higher prices.
Often stock is carried" for six months,
but generally the time is not more than
two months, and frequently not more
than week. Quick turns are the rule
with the majority of SPECTATORS
Watering" is the operation of sudden
~ increasing the capital stock of COM
pany. Wall street was thoroughly IA
miliarized with it by the reckless Erie
managers, who earned a notOriety that
honorable men certainly would not covet.
1t is very dangerous to holders of the
stock previously in the rket.-Dan5d
Connolly, IN Appleton's Journal.