Ladysmith news. [volume] (Ladysmith, Wis.) 1906-1907, 1906-11-03
GROWTH or STOCK TRADING.
Large Operations of Ten Years Ago Are
Petty Deals Now.

Large Operations of Ten Years Ago Are
Petty Deals Now.
"Until last week we had an I'M
,epting Saturdays, for five months
said an old Wall street broker. THAT
lis big change from the old way OF
doing things. And by the old way /
don't mean to go back before the Civil
War. Ten years is long time in Wall
street. Spectators Of to-day would
turn up their noses at the heavy trad
ing so-called-prior to 1865. In those
days brokerage concern that had
customer who swung thousand
shares had a client that was much to
be desired. His account was one for
which the average broker would give
wine suppers and theatre parties to
get hold of. Now the thousand-share
customer is a small fish in big
pond
There are traders on the floor of the
Exchange-men like G. B. Macdonald,
Harry Content and a dozen others
who will turn over a block Of fifteen
or twenty thousand shares for AN
eighth This makes business active
and swells the total of shares done in
a day. Moreover these operations,
which are conducted merely for a
scalp are frequently mistaken by the
tapeworms for real move, and thus
keep out of the market gets inland
frequently gets shorn.
''The operations of ten years ago
really seem laughable. Why, can re-
member when the Street used to get
excited over a speculative combat be-
tween New York and Chicago. New
York would be bull on the market
and Chicago would be bearing it.
Operations were a matter of local
pride and there was just about the
same interest in trading as there would
be over the result of ball games be-
tween the Giants and Anson's Colts.
Strange as it may be seem, the
change has been brought about largely
by Chicago-or the operations of the
so-called Western crowd. Yes, humili-
ating IS it may be for the New York
ers to confess it, John w. Gates and his
following have done more to put stock
market operations on a scale of magni-
tude than J. Pierpont Morgan. the
ROckefellers and Rogerses and all the
other big fellows, with the possible
exception of Keene, put together.
''It is all the result Of easy money
Tn6
which his name is associated made
money so easily that they hesitated no
more to risk it than the bookmaker
who, after a successful day at the
track, goes into gambling house and
bucks the faro bank. Not much more
than ten years before he left Chi
cago John w. had been peddling barb
wire fences. When he came to New
York he had made millions in the
Illinois Steel Company, later in the
American Steel & Wire. and to swell
his fortune still further he made an
advantageous deal with the United
States Steel Corporation. He is game
nothing small in the way of plunger
and he and his crowd made things
hum when they hit Wall street On
more than one occasion they have
jumped into a quiet market and turned
things upside down by the purchase Of
100000 shares OF one stock in a single
day. If you don't think such opera
tons have an effect on prices and SEN
timent Just watch the ticker while the
buying is going on.
"Of course. the Gates buyin. is not
always considered good buying, but
just the same it has set { new pace for
Wall street, and the magnitude OF the
trading has thrown into the shade the
big operations of decade ago.
New York Press.