The Greeley tribune., 1911-01-19
M'sIAlSES OF INVESTORS

N'NAa OF near the |
oo"' u "htFe time was plenty and
no on could oNerhear. these men
toio ns OF their investments. To
say that these confidential talks
nave been a revelation TO me is 10
put IL mildly. | learned from them
.na' nun! OF the men who stand at
the 'eiy pinnacle of their pro ession
ana me Of business hold only the
lowest grade stocks and have con-
tinuaily been losing money on sup
POSED Investments.
l found that a great LAWYER. who
is consulted on the most important
questioAs' annually loses nearly all
his savings IN margin speculations.
HIS iFlends-only hearing of his
successes-style him "a most sue
cessful OPERATOR" but he tells me
that about one time in seven he
makes a loss that wipes out all his
previous profits.
Ano'her case is that of most fa-
nous physician, who is sent for from
all parts Of the country and who re-
ceives fabulous sums for an hours
work. He, | find, has persisted in
purchasing only speculative, inactive
stocks OF which he has not the
slightest knowledge. If, however,
this man kent his purchases it would
not be So bad, but he insists always
on buylng VIXEN stocks are high, and
then, as they begin to decline, he
become panic-stricken and always
sells at the last opportunity, CON
tinually losing very large sums of
money
An instance that especially i'm
pressed me was that of a great
manufactuTer, whose product is sold
in ever grocery store througout the
land and who has a fortune in his
business. This man persists in 60
ing into outside schemes and So
called syndicates and various promo
tion deals. OF these outside matters
he has little knowledge, and he is
often heavy loser.
or all the cases that came to my
notice. however. the one that i'm
pressed me most was that OF man
whom ] consider a leading expert
in his line in America. I would
name his special work but many
would then know to whom l refer.
This man, who is continually report
ing upon propositions and who with
out doubt possesses most wonder
full intellect and a most conservative
judgment. has invested his income
in purely speculative schemes that
have little or no value. The fact
that men by when he is employed
have made fortunes in such things
made him think that he could do
likewise; but he forgot that most
of these men made their money by
selling these stocks and not by buy
ing them.
For example: banking house
buys tract Of land for one hundred
thousand dollars and capitalizes il
as mine at one million dollars
selling the stock on the theory thai
il may" be worth ten million dol
iulSs AG pdllf io'SN' nv
has not faith enough in the propo
sition to hold the stock until it be
comes worth ten million dollars, bu'
sells it at its value of one million
dollars and takes the profit OF nine
hundred thousand dollars for itself
or course, once in great while sucf
mine actually become of value anc
the original holders buy back the
stock after perhaps doing all they
can 10 scare out the holders: bu
when this harrens it is purely al
accident. as otherwise the buyers
would never have sold the stock n
the original price. This expert, Ike
ov-President Grant, believing Sc
strongly that such n procedure Is
ars0l.tely dishonest instead Of simr
lv "good business" cannot make
himself believe that these banker.
mud promoters with whom he dailN
associates would stoop to such ar
act, and so he is taken in every
time,
The same principle, moreover. ap
rl'Fs to buying cheap listed common
stocks of railroad and industrial cor
rCr7ticns that pay no dividends O.
course mcst of these 30 up with tht
general market. end in that way Tho
hUyCrs thereof often make a proit
hut, considering the loss Of Interest
on the money and the possibility O
less. enc cannot make Iny more II
the long run by buying these cheal
stcCFs than II he bought the highest
grade dividend-paying railroad
stocks.
Fer instance, assume that yot
bought A. B. and C. common. low
priced. non-dividcnd paving stock
and | bought X. Y. and H.. high
priced security with long DIVIDEND
record behind it. Now you stand II
the position OF either losing all o'
making twenty per cent. while | car
lose nothing and am surs of mnkins