The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-01-08

General Assembly to-day, but both houses vii
meet at noon tomorrow. PICKET.
THE WAYS OF VALE STREET
Tho Peculiar Patois OF tho Bulls ant
Bears.
From Appleton's JournaLl
Ofthe technical terms In use In Wall street
where transactions amounting to fifty or slxt!
million dollars frequently take place In one day
only few are understood oy Inc general pup la
lie. You, my good slr, are not speculator
of course not. You do not care button aoou
''cliquesn and ''corners;" and, whether
"buils" "suueeze" s'shUrts," or ''bears'
.shammer the MARKET" your mind s easy anc
your conscience clear. But, nevertheless, yor
may possibly bs wllliag TO know the meaning
Of the strange phraees which form the idion
OF the great financial centre, and which, II
you read the money articles In the dailles
doubtless sometimes BET you wondering at the
queer antics our language Is compelled to
piay.
As all the world knows, the regular opera
tors In atocks are divided into two classes
ssbulis" and s'bsars." Sometimes these anil
mails change their species, bulls becoming
bears and bears bulls, as falling or rising
market may lead their honest hearts. The
main object ofthe bulls Is to advance prices;
that Of the bears to depress. Frequently,
when the marketis is rising, and there are pros
poets Of q continued advance, spectators VINO
have consorted with the bears for several
months win suddenly desert them and join
the ranks OF the bulls, remaining there while
fortune smiles on that aide, and rushing 0ack
to the bears the moment the tickle goddess
indicates an Intention to transfer her 1aVors.
On the other hand habltual bulls often leave
their own pasture or the den OF Bruln Wnen
the market shows signs of tending down.
ward, and remain In Bruins company Till
their regular graziDg-grounds again become
particularly attractive. Or, TO simplify the
matter, speculator will be bull or bear,
according to the prospect OF making money
on one side or the other. One who Is bull
to-day may figure as bear tomorrow, and
Uice veTSd.
Bears thrive most on public calamilies.
Any occurrence that unsettes values puts
money in their pockets. The burning Of
Chicago was worth many millions to the bear
interest In Wall street. Occasionally the lead
ers OF this interest devise scheme to shake
confidence In financial soundness, and possl-
biy bring on panic, In order that they may
break the market and buy stocks at low prices.
They do not care how much the community
NAV suffer, or how many merchants, bankers,
or manufacturers may be ruined, provided
their own interest is served. Generally they
are utterly unscrnpulous as to the means EN-
ployed to accomplish their object, ana lne
more embarrassment and suffering they cause
to others the more likely are their own trans.
actions 10 yield them handsome profits. Yet
tfthere were no bears In Wall street the STOCK
Exchange would be found q rather dull place.
The terms 'lopg" and ''short" are OF
reApective application 10 the bull and bear par
ties. The bulls are always "ong" OF STOCK,
and the bears are always "snorL. Ihe speGu, Gu
lator who has stocks on hand, Wnlcn ne
bought with the expectation OF selling at
higher prices, is on the bull side, and, IN the
parlance of the street, Is '.long." bear sell
dom has stocks on hand. His business 10 10
sell .'short"-that ls, 10 sell property which
he has not got, Intending 10 buy and deliver
when prices are lower. Generally the STOCK
ia to be delivered the day after 1t is sold, but
quite often the Gear does not buy It for
month, or two or three months. How, then.
can he deliver 1t within twenty-tour hours
By borrowing from another person.
There Is in Wall street regular system for
borrowing stock. The broker who represents
the specalator procures the STOCK on oan from
security for the value Of what Is borrowed.
This transaction Is good for one day only, but
IL may be renewed the next day, and then the
next; and thus several weeks may pass before
the stock is really purchased for deliVery.
Meantime the seller, II he belongs TO Clique
or spool" is trying every day to depress
prices in order that he may buy the stock at a
lower figure than that at which he sold 1t.
This Ia the operation known as ''hammering
the market" and q very exciting one 1t some
times is. :,
and then they make rush to cover" Wnen
Interest In any particular spot, they put Lnelr
heads together and get up corner" Wnen
y stock is said to be ''cornered," the meaning
js that it Is controlled by clique. Tne
CLIQUE holds enough of 1t TO control the mar
ket and exact such terms as may be desired.
An upward movement Is suddenly devei,opea, ., @
and the bears who have sold "shorl" IN e4,
pectation OF lower prices become alarmed and
begin to buy. In the majority OF cases Inc
men who work the advance are the very ones
who bought what the bears sold, and they are
now selling it to them at high figures ior de-
livery back to themselves.
'rTwistpg" Is the process OF making tne
hears nav high prices for what they probably
AID at low prices, and towering" istne op'
eratlon Of buying stock to close 'short" con-
tracts. Once In while stock is 30 closely
sscornered" that 1t can be borrowed only al
enormous interest for the days use-perhaps
at rate that is equal to one thousand pei
is the worst squeeze" Of all, and Ills moi 10
be wondered at that, as the gentlemen OF Inc
Stock Exchange Say, the bears generally
'ssuueal" under 1t. One ehrewd manipulator OF
atocks is known to have cleared hfty tnous-
and dollars In one day bC loa9iDg fancy
stock that he had ,'cornered." But the same
gentleman sometimes gets into CORNER
prepared by others. 1t is commonly under.
stood that he was feeced to the amount OF
nearly two millions during the likely NORTH
Westn gale few weeks since.
'sPuts" and ''calls" are terms OF more than
ordinary difficulty for the uninlliated to under
stand. Their meaning may, however, be
made comparatively plain. A, for instance,
proposes TO '.put" to B-that Is, deliver to him
"a certain amount of certain stock within Q
certain time at price agreed upon when the
contract ia made, and gives B bonus Of one,
two or three per cent, as the case may be, for
the privilege. This is put" II the stock
does not decline in value to an amount e1-
ceediug the sum given to B, A cannot make
ANYTHING by the transaction, and unless he
chooses TO deliver the stock he Is not obliged
to do 40, If 1t falls more than that amount, A
NAV make good profit, tor B, having accept
ed the bonus. is bound TO take the stock, even
though 1t may be selling at hVe or zen pei
cent. below the price at which ne agreed te
A "call' is pretty much the same thing, With
thi, difference: A gives hundred or !
sbousand dollars, or whatever sum may os
agreed upon, for the privilege OF "cainns
from B q certain amount OF steck Wltnln
given number Of days. II the stock ADVANCES
A NAV ..call" it and make money. II IL de'
clnea, he need not "call" 1t, out, 0I couise