The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-07-19
KxhP our or WALL sTHEET.
How the Minnows are Ground Up When Levi.
athan Rockefeller Desports Himself
New York American.
Do not gamble in Wall Street.

Do not gamble in Wall Street.
Stocks have tumbled to depth unpar-
alleled IN ordinary times, brokers are
calling on their margin customers for
money, more stocks are thrown on the
market to raise this money, and the ten
deney of prices is steadily downward.
This is a sinister bulletin from Wall
Street, but the relatively small effect it
indicates that the public at large is not
doing much specializing just now.
The reason for the collapse OF stocks IS
reported to be determination OF the
Rockefellers to batter down prices
To the innocent outsider it would seem
foolish thing for great capitalists to
diminish the value of the stocks they
own but the Wall Street expert explains
that the Rockefellers have so much mon
ey that they have difficulty in finding
profitable investments for it.
With $50,000000 a year, or some such
income, rolling in upon him from his
Standard Oil stock and other investments,
John d. Rockefeller finds himself being
swamped by the money he cannot spend.
His training and career have made it
second nature to him to add as much as
possible to his enormous accumulation,
and be cannot resist the temptation to
get the biggest return for his money pos
sible. So, say the wise men, he is DELHI
erately smashing prices in order that he
can reinvest his accumulated income to
the best advantage.
II this Is true, it is also true that when
Mr.. Rockefeller has taken all the low
priced stock he requires he will take his
hand off the market and stocks will stag
ger back to normal figures and remain
there until his income again accumulates
beyond the endurance of his financial con-
science.
course, it makes no difference to him
whether the market value of his holdings
l. great or small. In either event he can
afford TO hold them until the price is salts
factory to whatever purpose he entertains.
Not so with the small holder-and even
the men generally named as great fish in
the Wall Street sea are minnows compared
with this leviatilan of the market. When
he sees his fortune cut in two it is real
loss, and not theoretical one, that con
fronts him.
There are a lot of the minnows ground
up every time Rockefeller disports him
self, a fact that has become so well known
that stock gambling is not nearly as prey
alent as it used to be.
The power of the Standard Oil fortune
is so vast that it is a wonder Mr. Rookie
teller should' care to try to increase it by
getting his sons father-in-aw to put
through Congress a law that would prac-
tically turn the finance OF the country over
to him exclusively
Whatever may be the ethics of the
Rockefeller raid, it makes plain the les
son to all men of moderate capital:
Do not speculate in Wall Street.
If you buy stocks for investment. pay
for them, for it you buy on margin you
are simply guessing at what John d.
Rockefeller will do and gambling your
money on his impulse, for he has demon
strated that by his will stocks rise and
fall. regardless of crops, earnings. corpor-
alton management or any of the things
that are popularity supposed to govern the
price of securities
DO not gamble in Wall Street.