The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-04-05
JAMES R. KEENE THE STOCK MANIPULATION

nom financial death But he has bided
his time. and ln the end he has seen
the ramParts of dollars erected by his
enemies crumble away beneath his
bloWs-at a very fair profit to him
seE.
He Is highly ns-vous. but he has TIE
great knack of patience, so that he can
plan like Won Moltke and lead a charge
Ike Phil sheridan. He must produce
certain effects by means of price huc-
tuatiOns, and he knows how 20 do IT,.
Thus on the day after the publication
or Mr.. CleVeland'S Venezuelan message
he not only sold out big line of stocks
that be was carrying but I'm addition
he sold short over 90 600 shares in which
he made a mice turn. as he called it.
He does not know what fear Is He
has, at times. been so heavily commit
ted that any untOward event tending
TO upset the market would have made
him lose 5000 900 In five minutes. But
he lost no sleep over it, And he has
planned and carried on a hal t-lOzen
campaigns in single stocks. each of
which has Melted him a million or more
after a few weeks work
To most men. even famous stock op-
orators, the tape merely conveys an
| idea of how the market Is going"
But 10 Mr.. Keene the tape reports just
I how his lieutenants are executing his
commands. Those who know what he
has done see IN the imm0blle figure
by the ticker the embodied soul Of the
stock market PauSing only 90 give
fresh orders. which are transmitted to
his brokers, he resumes his scrutiny
OF the tape. On dull days he is as rest
less as Gagged tiger. pacing TO and
fro, sitting -OT a second. rising. glanc-
ing az the ticker from mere force OF
habit.
The manipulation of stocks is an art.
as war is an art. Manipulators differ
IN their methods. as do generals. Mr.
Morgan, for example. can consolidate
vast properties and reorgapize railway
systems and put out new securities 10y
the hundreds of millions. The prestiS e
Of his name as a banker enables hirS
to sell bonds TO investors; but he mas
not always succeeded I'm creating q
good market for stocks, for money is
not everything, just as superiority a.
numerical force does not always mean
victory in a battle. Mr.. Keene knows
how to buy and how to sell stocks as
no other man. He joins 20 a vast eX-
perlence at the game a knowledge Of
the psychology of stock gamblers and
a variety Of resources that enables him
to change his plan of battle His bold
ness is his most striking feature as
manipulation. He takes a stock which
he believes tC be worth more than il
is selling fer, but which has not been
properly cared for i'm the market. and
he advances it until people are eager
TO buy it.
Take the case Of the Southern rail-
way. Since the reorganization OF the
company the stock had been more or
less neglected. Other shares had risen.
but the Southern railway stocks had
not. Efforts had been made TO create
market for il. but although the prices
advanced, the rise was not proportion
ately nearly as great as that in other
and less meritOriOus securities. Every
time the price rose men who held large
Interests had so much for sale that the
price promptly settled back. Specu-
latOrs would buy and wait patiently for
a further rise; they would become dis
appointed and finally sell out i'm dis
gust, Mr.. keene interested himself in
the stocks He bought at first care
tGlly, IN order 10 secure it cheap. but
later with apparent recklessness. All
the stock that the weary holders were
glad 10 sell he was glad to buy. and
the price rose steadily. Mr.. keene. Of
course. sold as well as bought. He saws
that TO sell 10000 shares YOU must buy
100000. That is, some of his brokers
would buy 100000 shares. while other
brokers would sell for him 20.O0O. And
before many weeks had passed Wall
street was willing 10 buy Southern rail-
way stocks freely, though the price was
twenty points higher than when the
stocks were unpopular with investors
r. HFrY an
or ne-manipulated stock has
risen ten points smart people saw.
'heene is making a turn" After ff-
teen points advance, "Keene must be
crazy and they go short Of IL. after
thirty points they say There is some
lhlng going on. and they buy the stock
IRON Mr. keene. In the conduct OF
MS bear comprehensive campaigns
that have made him feared by seCuri-
ties manufacturers who had stocks for
sale-he has attacked values with a
ooldness that has daZed the street and
q skill that has been called Satanic.
The greatest work Mr. Keene ever
did was his conduct of the post-eIection
puil' campaign. He became a bull
shortly after his return TO this country
from England last fan Mr.. Morgan
and others of equal Importance in the
financial world asked his advice regard
ing stock market affairs Mr.. Keene
studied the situation carefully and an
nounced himself a bull" There fol-
lowed the greatest stock boom ever
experienced in this country. He
planned openings as carefully as a
dramatist plans situations He had
charge of the United States Steel shares
ana he developed a market for them
such as had never before existed for
any stocks. The manipulation was the
most wonderful Witnessed in any c0un-
try i'm any period. He disdained the
use OF newspaper booming" He did
not need the assistance of a single Jour
nalist but he did far better. he made
the stock ticker. which recorded the
transactions on the New York stock
exchange, talk 90 the entire world. BY
lnnumerable strategic moves. Selling
opportunities as they presented them
selves. displaying a quick perception
and a brOadness Of vision which as
founded even his closest friends and
he daily dictated 10 the ticker
stories which the ticker obedlentlv re-
peated 20 the public And when the
ticker repeated his speeches a million
gTeed-stricken Americans thought they
heard a cascade of golden pieces roll
ing toward them. America England.
Germany France bought the new
stocks by the hundreds Of thousands OF
shares, not so much because the great
trust had been organized as because
Mr. keene had made the stocks attrac-
Tive TO the people who buy securities
that cam always find q ready market.
10 made the trust "a success. It prob
ably made Mr.. keene one Of the grear
mlllOnaires of the country.
When a Man Has a Cold
(ChicagO NeWsJ
IS hen "a man has "a cold Do b. raaII,- srf--