Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-03-23
ALBION
Was the Rise I'm Anticipation of the
Decision?


Decisions
This query Is going the rounds in Eu-
reka, at least, il not elsewhere. The APP
probation Of the stock was evident
ly independent Of the condition of
the mine; not that the outlook in the
mine was not good at the time OF the rise;
the outlook during those ten days Of ap-
probation was good certainly, but not
different from what it had been for a long
time previous. The value Of the Albion
depended almost entirely upon another
consideration, to wit: whether it should
acquire title to the Uncle Sam ground
that is to say, whether it would win the
suit pending between the Richmond and
itself. Each side claimed the advantage in
the case as submitted to the Supreme
Court. Public opinion was divided as to
what the decision would be; and it is diff
fcult to presume that any one could have
anticipated that the success of the Albion
would be so complete and overwhelming.
Stock operators, moreover, do not manip-
ulate stocks on the chances of a judicial
decision at some indefinite future time to
the extent Of buying up shares as Albion
stocks were bought; or, on the other hand,
of unloading to any considerable extent.
Those who have the inside are too sensi-
tive Of their capital to deal in such uncer-
t~ainties. They rather put in their
money on a "dead thing" When
there is a general and decided move
ment in q certain stock the inference is
that there is an organized job tc accom-
plish the purpose of the bulls or bears, as
tha naoa |, ba. atthar fhis or fba ronva-
ment is irrepressible, and accounted for
by actual increase or decrease in the value
of the mine. Stock speculation is a gam
BILE. Those who make a profession Of it
deal to win. Hence, when a stock is OBJ
served to rise continuously for a time
there is . reason for tone OF merit in q
mine, or q job. The late rise in Albion
stock cannot be accounted for, as has
been said, by reference to the condition Of
the mine. That a job sent the stock up no
one suspects. The property was bound
up in litigation, and there would have
been great difficulty in bulling it. As long
as it remained among the probabilities
that the mine might become valuable by
means of an adverse decision OF the Su-
preme Court. it was next to impossible to
manipulate it any further than to raise a
little excitement upon the stock and cause
a temporary furry. Could the deci-
sion Of the Court have been calculated
on with any degree of certainty We
should not be at q loss to tell why
Albion showed such strength and rose 80
substantially and held ite own so well for
ten days. But this decision, the pre-
sumption is fair and unavoidable, could
not have been guessed. If guessed ten
days in advance, it could as well have been
guessed at once, at least much earlier than
ten days before the decision was made
public. With the present lights to guide
us, we confess that we canno account for
the remarkable rise in Albion stock ex-
cept on the supposition that the operators
in San Francisco knew what the decision
would be ten days before it was given to
the public. AS to how the information
was obtained We, OF course, cannot specu-
late to any advantage. But as a logical
deduction from an analysis of the circum-
stances the conclusion in our mind is un-
avoidable, that some people had positive
and absolute information in advance
of the published decision, that the
Albion Company would win the
suit. To show the extent and
Importance OF the deal, a statement taken
from the official report Of the San Francis
CO Stock Board sales, is offered for
tOheiuSih tA'hs II u " Icnitnl thht
there are 150, 900 shares of stock. 1t will
be seen by the following statement that
80, 400 shares were sold between the 7th
and 10th Of March, inclusive. These are the
transactions that are recorded. 1t is not
unlikely that in the deal enough more of
these shares changed hands otherwise to
swell the sales to 50, 900, one-third Of the
whole number OF the shares in the mine.
Who imagines that this deal would have
occurred just at this time-the time when
most probably the Judges had just deter
mined upon their decision-that it would
have been 80 strong, so extensive, had not
the buyers Of probably 80. 900 shares known
that they were safe in buying. known that
the Albion would VIM Otherwise where
could such a number Of purchasers have
been found to gobble up that lumber OF
shares. the valus OF which depended solely
upon the issue Of the pending litigation?
This is the statement of the shares sold
per day, their price. an average. and a
summary for ten and for twelve days. 1t
will be seen that, after the decision, On the
first day 10, 700 shares were sold, and on
the second day but 1900: