Bisbee daily review., 1907-10-06
(By Geo. L. Walker in Boston Com
mercial.)

Wy Wv - " eiEEt IL kOEtOn SOtit-
mercial.)
The price of copper was again re-
duced this week, this time to Is IA
cents for lake and Is cents for cleo
trolytic. At this writing this last re-
duction appears to have had the desir-
ed effect. Considerable sales have
been made, estimated at total of 40
000. 900 70 100000 pounds within the
past ten days, and both consumers
and producers seem satisfied that the
market is on bottom at last. The
greater portion of the buying has been
for immediate delivery, and copper is
now moving freely. There are great
many consumers in the market making
preparations to buy copper. 1t Is good
opinion that they are well enough sat
isfied with the 15-cent price so that
they will soon begin to buy for future
account.
A representative of one of the larg-
est producing interests expresses the
blief that within go days there viii be
scarcity OF copper for future deliv-
cry. Production is being reduced on
all sides. The mines of Butte are
declared to have cut down their out
put approximately so per cent. Phelps,
DOuSG * w., OPSAobADS az A1AoDCSB
Morenci and in Mexico, have reduced
the output of their mines considerably.
Both the Bingham Consolidated and
u. S. Smelling companies have clos
ed down some important mines in
Utah, and it is understood that the
output of all the rest of the mines
| in that state has ben cut down con-
siderably by the scarcity of fuel that
prevails there. The producing com
panies owning large smelters in Mon
tana, Utah and Arizona are said to
| be refusing to take any more custom
ores. and as a result number OF small
mines will be forced to close down.
While 1t cannot be denied that
! there has been a serious falling off In
| the consumption of copper. the reduc-
| ton has been greatly over estimated
| by most of the authorities who are
| quoted in the press. The conditions
which led up to this curtailment OF
| consumption, the money famine and
| the abnormaily high price for the
metal, are no longer with us. Money
| Is getting easier, and within few
| weeks there will be n market for the
bonds of the telephone, electric light
and street railway companies who
/ wish TO extend their lines. When the
/ consuming demand is back to nor
NAL level again the amount of copper
| left in the ore in the ground by the
current tailment VIII be seriously
missed 1t isn't impossible that the
price of copper may again be ad-
gancing within a few months.
This is one of the times when most
people come to believe that the
easiest thing to do in all the world
Is to lose money in the stock market.
| 1t is a time when almost everyone
wants to believe that the stock mar
ket is a game played with stacked
cards, and that the end and aim OF
| the dealer is to rob all who partici-
pate. Men whose good business judg-
ment makes them know better will
| tell you that the current decline in
prices is due to manipulation by the
"bsg fellows" who are trying to get
| their stocks away from them. They
won't admit that they were caught in
| the YhirI of ambitious speculation,
that they knew prices must be too
/ high at the time, bal rhat they
bought with the hope that the market
would go on advancing as it had for
months and years previously, and that
| they simply felt sure they would be
able to sell soon after at good profit.
| II you ask them why they didn't
sell when they saw the volume OF
| their mercantile or manufacturing
| business begin to fall off, they will
| say they wanted to, but by that time
their stocks had begun to show them
small loss. They held on hoping
| that something might happen to put
prices up again They listened to
hope when reason told them that the
| tide of business had turned, that earn
/ ings would be smaller and that people
would have less money TO buy stocks
with. They hoped, and therefore be-
lieved that "the big men" had put
prices down temporarily to scare
them and make them SELL
There is NO one who likes so wen
Ito fool himself as the trader. 1t
takes the fireworks of big bull mar
/ ket to make him buy stocks, and II
he gets Disguised ard sells on q de-
clining market he almost immediate
| ly buys again to take another loss.
/ Before / left for the west, from
| January till June, / repeatedly called
attention to the money situation and
stated that it was likely to force
reaction In general business. I also
discussed the attitude of the admin
/ sstration at Washington and declared
lit a menace to confidence and bush
Iness. I went further and strongly adj
vfsed all the readers of these letters
to sell their holdings of low priced
speculative and non-dividend paying
coppers. and told them not to buy
ANYTHING but the best grade OF stocks.
AS it has turned out the best stocks
have gone down almost as much as
the poorest. but the good ones will
surely be the first to recover. Good
stocks have been sold by SPECTATORS
generally to protect holdings Of poor
pnes- This <ss the cause OF their
o-ao< aaoIFna