Milford chronicle., 1903-11-06
THE LONDON BROKER.
His Business ms Pleasant ms Any
Commercial Career Can De.

Commercial Career Can De.
Comparatively speaking, a London
brokers' life is a happy one says Cen
tury. He has more or less pleasant
offices. and. il he is industrious, he is
TO be found there from 10 to or @
O'Clock every day of the year except
Stock Exchange holidays and his
months vacation in the summer. The
Stock Exchange opens at 10 o'clock
and shuts at +, but official business
hours are from II to 3 o'clock. Bar
gains before or after these hours can
not be officially recorded on the mark
ing boards The investment broker
therefore does not deal till II o'clock,
when he goes into the house, walking
round the market collecting prices
and cleaning information while he
does his bargains. After that he re-
turns to his Office. where. If times are
slack. be can write his letters and read
the papers and mediate how TO pro
vide his clients with what they all
want-5 per cent investments with gov
ernment security. The life of a bro
ker with a good investment business is
about as pleasant as any commercial
career can be. He walks between hts
office and the Stock Exchange several
times n day. and his occupation is
neither sedentary nor fatiguing. He
is brought into contact only with his
own clients. aud in the house he can
select the jobbers he chooses to deal
with.
The general public has very vague
ideas about the differences between
brokers and jobbers. II man has
money to invest and desires TO buy
certain securities he must employ a
broker. He cannot deal direct with a
jobber. The broker will give his ad-
vice if asked for and. on receiving in
structions to invest. say. $1,000 in con-
soils. he will walk into the house to the
consol market. select a dealer and ask
for a price on five" consols. The
dealer makes n price wide or ''close," >"
as the state Of the market will permit
! say 99A. which means that he is
ready to buy at 30 and sell at 99A. The
broker replies that he buys at 99A. re-
turns to lis office and delivers Il writ
ten contract to the client. The dealer
steps into the center Of his particular
market and challenges at the middle
price 99k. The theory is that some
/ other broker has been selling c0nSols
mt 90 to another dealer: the iw" deal
ers meet and the stock changes hands
/ at gOlk. both jobbers getting one
4 eighth Of l per cent on the market
4 turn. This is the theory, and if all
| business could he conducted on such
quiet and respectable terms the Stock
| Exchange would be a very nice place
for iobbcrs. As matter of fact the
market often goes against them ana
they cannot undo their business ex-
cept at a loss. The broker gets his
commission anyway. and his life Is
much less wearing. A jObber with a
large capital at his disposal generally
makes money much more rapidly than
broker unless the latter is in touch
with high finance There is an enor-
nous mass of investment business
transacted in the Stock Exchange in
London. far more than in any other
money market in the world. but there
are a good many brokers to do it, and
the membership of the house would
show a rapid reduction If speculative
business were diminished. A member
Of the public if he chooses, can specu
late through an outside" broker, 8
"bucket shop keeper" but the man
who does this would buy a gold brich
at sight. Ninety times out of hun
dred lie would lose his money.