Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-06-26
THE LONDON BROKER.
HIS Business N Pleasant as Any
Commercial Career Can he.

commercial Career Can he.
Comparatively speaking, London
brokers' life Is happy one. says Gen.
fury. He has more or less pleasant
Offices, aud. II he Is industrious, he Is
20 be found there from 10 to 3 or G
o'clock every day OF the year except
Stock Exchange holidays ard his
months vacation in the summer. The
Stock Exchange opens at 10 o'clock
and shuts at 4. but official business
hours are from IL 10 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 IL 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. IL times are
slack, he 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
eminent security. The life of bro
ker with good investment business Is
about rs 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
Ia brought into contact only with his
own clients. and I'm 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. If man has
money to invest and desires to buy
certain securities he must employ a
broker. He cannot deal direct with a
5oPber. The broker will give his ad-
vice IL asked for, and, on receiving in
structions to invest, say, $4,000 in con-
soils, he will walk into the house to the
consol market, select dealer and ask
for price on "tive" consols. The
dealer makes price "wide" or "close."
as the state Of the market will permit,
say 99-99H, which means that he is
ready to buy at 90 and sell at 99k. The
broker replies that he buys ut 90H, re-
turns to his office and delivers n writ
ten contract to the client. The dealer
steps into the center of his particular
market and challenges at the middle
price, 991s. The theory is that some
other broker has been selling consols
at 90 to another dealer; the two deal
ers meet and the stock changes hands
at 9ols, both jobbers getting one
eighth of 1 per cent on the market
turn. This Is the theory, and IL all
business could be conducted on such
quiet and respectable terms the Stock
Exchange would be very nice place
for jobbers. AS matter of fact the
market often goes against them and
they cannot undo their business ex-
cept at u loss. The broker gets his
commission anyway. and his life Il
much less wearing. A jobber with
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 I'm the world. but there
are good many brokers to do II, and
the membership OF the house would
show rapid reduction II speculative
business were diminished A member
OF the public. IL he chooses. can specu-
late through an outside" broker,
bucket shop Keeper" but the man
who does this would buy gold brick
ut sight. Ninety times out or q hun
dred be would lose his money.