The Osceola times., 1882-03-18
The Lingo" of the "Street 4"
Philadelphia Bulletin.

The Lingo OF the ">treet"
Philadelphia Bulletin
80 you want to know the meaning of
the lingo Of the street," says the veteran,
taking fresh clutch on his cigar and
sending volume of smoke into the to-
bacco-s ented air Of the room. Well,
I'll do what | can to tell you. To begin
with, there are operatOrs-b by this do
not mean telegraph operators, mind you.
| am an operator, but | am sure don't
know the first thing about a Morse in
s'rument, though | do buy thousand
telegraph once in while. An opera.
tor is speculator-he watches the mar
ket, and he makes an honest penny now
and then by the rise and fall Of stocks.
Then there is the commission broker,
who does the operators business for him,
and who receives commission for what
he does, and the room-trader-the brok-
er who has a seat in the board for the
mere purpose of specializing on his own
behalf, and who don't care a rap for com
missions-save he don't have any to
pay"
But where are the bulls and bea-s?'
asked the unsophistcated citizen.
"Well, you see, the operators, the com.
sisson brokers and the room traders
are all either one or the other. One day
| may be hull and the next a bear; or |
may be bull to-day on Pennsylvania
and later bear on Reading. You see it
depends on whether think the stock il
going up or down"
81 see" says the would-be Spectator,
but which is the bear and which is the
bull2 ! can never keep that in my
head"
80 yes, you can. It's quite easy. A
bear is one who looks forward to fall
in stocks and sells in the hope of being
able to buy at a lower price before the
time comes for delivery. The name is
derived, ielieve, from the story of
man who sold q bears skin before he
had caught or killed the bear, though
some people say such a man is called a
bear because he pulls down, and others
aay it originated in the fact that he is
bare of stocks and wants prices to 90
down so that he may buy in to fill his
contracts. The bull is the person who
has stock and wishes the prices to go up,
SO that he may sell TO advantage lie is
so called from the habit a bull has of
tossing things up with his horns"
Then the operator looks around and
II
reads definitions. II is sort of diction-
ary of the brokers' language.
"'Going long means buying for lise
This is by far the most frequent among
beginners or non-professionals, and is
done after this manner: You place $500
in the hands of your banker or broker as
margin upon 100 shares Of stock,
which YOU order him to buy for you, and
f,h In 40
der it sod or vour margin is about ex-
hausted. In the latter case should you
fail to respond TO call from your brok.
or for more margin he is at liberty to
protect himself, charging you with the
deficit III any u'at your margin fails to
cover In case of tight money market,
your broker is entitled to charge an ad-
ditional price for money over ana above
the usual seven per cent. In such
transaction you would be called long of
stocks or a bull"
"'Selling short is just the reverse of
going long and is governed by the same
rule, except that the seller, not having
,he stock, ia obliged to borrow it for
present delivery, and takes the risk of
buying it back at some future time to
return TO the lender. The chief risk of
sl
FOR not unfrequently clique gets con-
troll of the stock and not only makes it
impossible for the parties short TO bor-
row the stock, but forces the price up TO
extraordinary figures. One Of the special
advantages Of specializing on the short
side is that you have no interest TO pay,
and costs you nothing except commits
sions to remain short as long as you
IL t,1n inc cta t.I ri,.V,
stocks become scarce through q corner
or for election purposes, your broker has
then TO pay for the use of the stock aud
charges You accordingly. Margins and
commissions are the same as when you
buy stocks for rise or go long When
you are short OF stocks you are called
bear
"'Turning stocks consists in buying
for cash and selling at the same time on
long option the same stock and amount,
thereby making & ,r cent interest, and
the difference in the price Of cash and
option, which is usually upon those of
sixty days, not less than one, and very
often reaching three per cent.
Stock privileges, or puts calls
spreads and 'straddles.' although not
recognized by the Stock Exchange, have
become quite favorite mode of specu.
lation of late years. A 'pnt is contract
which entities the holder to put or de.
liver stock 10 the signer thereof. A
cali entitlees the holder to call for or
demand stock from the signer, accord
ing to the specified terms. A spread is
double privilege, and entities the hold
er either % deliver to or demand from
the signer thereof the stocks named in
il, accoring to the terms OF agreement.
II the prices named in both cases are the
same then it is known as 'straddle.n