Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1882-03-16

Oh iUt lingo VI inc street. SAY : tHt Ntt-
eran. taking fresh clutch on his cigar
and sending a volume of smoke into the
tobacco-scented air of the room. well,
I'll do what | can TO tev you. To be-
gin with. there are operators this |
do not mean telegraph operators, mind
you. am an operator, but | am sure
don't know the first thing about Morse
instrument, though do buy a thousand
Telegraph once in while. An OPP
orator is n speculator-he watches the
market. and he makes an honest penny
now and then by the rise or fall of
stocks. Then there is the commission
broker. who does the operators bust
ness for him. and who receives n COM
mission for what he does; and the room
trader-the broker who has seat in the
board for the mere purpose of specula-
ting on his own behalf, and who don't
care a rap for commissions-sav he
don't have any to pay"
But where are the bulls and bears?"
asks the unsophisticated citizen.
well. YOU see. the operators, the
commission brokers and the room-trad-
ers are all either one or the other. One
day may be a bull and the next day
bear; or may be bull to-day on Penn
sylvania and later bear on Reading.
You see. it depends on whether think
the stock is going up or going down"
Il see. : says the would-be Spectator,
..but which is the bear. and which the
bull? | can never keep that in my
head
90. yes. you can. It's quite easy.
A bear is one who looks forward to a
fall in stocks and sells in hope of being
able to buy at lower price before the
time comes for delivery. The name is
derived, believe. from the story of
man who sold bears skin before he
had caught or killed the bear; though
some people say such man is called
bear because he pulls down. and others
say it originated in the fact that he is
bare of stocks and wants prices to 20
down 50 that he NAV buy in to fill his
contracts. The bull is the person who
has stock and wishes the price to 90 up.
so that he may sell to advantage. He
is so called from the habit bull has of
tossing things up with his horns"
Then the operator looks around and
reads definitions. 1t is sort of die
tionary of the brokers' language.
.'.Going long means buying for a
rise. 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 rs Il margin upon 100 /
shares of stock, which YOU order him to |
buy for You. and which he agrees to
carry until YOU order it sold or your |
margin is about exhausted. In the |
latter case, should YOU fail to respond /
10 call from YOUR broker for more |
margin he is at liberty TO protect him.
self. charging You with the deficit Gf |
any) that your margin fails TO cover
In case of a tight money market.
your broker is entitled to charge an adj
ditional price for money over and above
the usual seven per cent. In such
transaction you would be called long of
stocks, or Il bull
'''Selling short is just the reverse of
going long. and is governed by the
same rule. except that the seller. not
having the stock. is obliged Ia borrow it
for present delivery. and takes the risk
of buying it back at some future time TO
return 10 the lender The chief risk in
selling short is the chance of cor
ner,' for not unfrequently clique
gets control of the stock and not only
makes it impossible for the parties
short 10 borrow the stock, but forces
the price up TO extraordinary figures.
One of the special advantages of specu-
lating ON the short side is that Won
have no interest to pay. and costs you
nothing except commissions TO remain
short as long as you choose. unless. as