Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-03-21
STOCK GAMBLING.
rr,n.actions I'm shares are Man
.yed In Wall street.

.ged In Wall street.
T. ,;.w of the fact that Wall Street
an confidently expect boom alter
onp spell of dullness, his is a good time
~ describe the methods of brokerage
wbich are about as mysterious to most
Deoplc a, the manner of faro or roulet.
In ordinary brisk times the "aii
o.,oo, brokers make more money ana
n.to II easier than any other set OF pro-
s...ional men. To do legitimate brok-
o,.ce business does not necessltate the
.Iicbtest risk, nor does it imply that the
hroker must in any way become spec
ulatOr.
As business is conducted on the New
Work Stock Exchange the broker simply
lands the money to his customer with
which to purchase stock, and then does
,be buying for the purchaser. The Gus
toners makes payment, which is call
al margin, and that insures the troker
against loss through the depreciation OF
the property purchased.
An erroneous impression prevails that
there is no genuine transaction In Stocks
when purchase or a sale is made IN the
Now York Stock Exchange, but that the
whole is fictitious. This is true OF some
of the grain marts, but in the Stock Ex-
change the stock certainly is bought,
Maid for and delivered, and may be
transferred to the name of customer
on the company's book. That is one
reason why the transactions OF the bro
kers become so enormous and why so
much capital is required 20 carry on
brokerage business. A broker who buys
100 shares of Lackawanna at 80 "ivcs his
check for $4,000 to the broker who sold
it, and gets the stock certificate in re-
tim. II he buys 1,O00 shares he paws
$4,000 for it. In other words, he gives
$50 share.
In brisk times the big stock brokerage
houses do 10000 shares day, and give
checks for 100000. They need not
have that much capital, for the saleG and
purchases, as rule, about balance one
another; and the total of the checks re-
ceived equal the total paid out.
The purchase Of stocks is very SIM
ple process. although to the world at
large there is about it enough of the hid
den to make it deep and fascinating
mystery. 1t is notable that genuine
rokers rarely retire from Wall Street
unless it be because they have accumu-
lated large riches or ave grown too old
to do the work. The reason is that it is
very profitable business.
A very few customers will keep brok-
er going. The commissions are large.
To buy and sell 100 shares of stock the
broker charges the customer S25; to turn
1,OO0 shares. $3.50. The good houses
that in brisk trade in 10000 shares day
get S., 900 tor doing so. For weeks and
for months in the booming times oi
lSS0.'Sl the daily transactions on the
Stock Exchange amounted to 100000
shares. On this the commissions were
tilt tDOTlnOuS sOul vi gl-c,OOO. Sho ei'ie
are 100 members of the Exchange it is
pain that the average profit TO each was
something mere than 500. Ii Is easily
earned, but capital is required, first to
purchase q Stock Exchange seat, and
then to lay in full for the stocks which
the customers buy.
The greatest trouble is to get the GUS
toners. While very many business and
professional men speculate in Wall
Street. they are careful not to let the fact
be known. 1t is hard, therefore, for q
broker to drum up custom. To openly
solicit it in business houses or social
GATHERINGS would be to meet rebuff at
every hand.
1t is only through gaining extensive
acquaintanceship and through advertis'
ing that brokers get NV customers
But once gotten, customer who will
trade in few hundred shares of stock
in day, or even a week, is indeed a bo'
nanzs. Every 100 shares means $25 tC
the broker, as already explained. Yet
there are hundreds of spectators in the
street who trade in 5000 TO 10000 week
Hosts of Wall Street brokers have haC
the command over themselves to abstain
from speculating on their own hook
when they must have known that th'
market was sure to 60 in a given duec
ton. These are the men who grow rict
and great rapidly. They are calm AM
cool-headed in every emergency. while
their brother brokers are wild over pros
pective losses or reckless over possible
gains. They are content to take com
missions and let the speculatoIs run TIA
risk.
Ghc cool-hesded broker has sur
fortune If he will only avoid speculation
on his own hook-tbat as rule mean
ruin to every one, be he broker or GU:
toner who undertakes it. The broker
age firms who get the business OF the bi
men of the street have the bigges
bonanzas of all. To make Il successfU
movement in stock it requires purchas
or sale, or both, of a vast quantity {
stock, for which the opera or must pa
commissions in full. n. Y. Cor. Chic &
Tribune.