Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1921-05-19
INVESTING, SPEcULATINd AND
GAMBLING


Shooting craps or betting on
horse race is out-and-out gambling
Everybody admits it is moral!
wrong and financially foolish. Yet
some persons who wouldn't risk
red copper on horse race will, with
out hesitancy, gamble with all or
substantial portion Of their savings
in the purchase Of an improved
stock. Investing" they call 1t
when as matter Of fact 1t is moth
ing but a plain out-and-out gamble
In order to ascertain the distinc'
ton 'one should bear In mind the
terms Investing, speculation and
gambling.
An investment is where you buy a
piece Of real estate that has GER
tain value and an assured profit; OF
government bonds; or a substantial
preferred stock that has been paying
a steady dividend for years.
Investment has as its first consid-
Grafton safety Of the principal IN
volved and Of the interest return.
True investment has no other object.
Speculation is buying in expectation
OF a rise in value, or selling with
view to buying later at lower value.
1t enters into many investment oper-
atoms, for at times the highest grade
Investment issues have speculative
possibilities. Liberty Bonds, for In
stance, at last years low prices, held
forth such possibilities. and undoubt-
eddy still do. Speculation must be
based on faith backed by intelligent
study. otherwise 1t Is a gamble
based on pure chance. If you buy or
sell stock on Tip" that's gam
bling. But if you buy or sell stock
on your own judgment formed after
thought and study, believing 1t Will
rise. that is speculation.
If you buy stock in wild cat oil
proposition because some friend tells
YOU it is a good Investment" that
is gambling pure and simple But
if you duly investigate piece OF
land, get biologists reports on Its
formation. and find reasonable
probability that there might be Oil
there. and then put MP the money to
sink the well, that is speculation. II
you find no oil you still have not
gambled, because you did all You
could to prove there was oil there be-
fore you drilled.
"eLt no man try to fool himself
said John Moody in the American
Magazine, after thirty years exper-
fence in Wall Street, as keen OBJ
server and an analysis OF securities
and conditions, IF he takes a flyer
in stocks because some one has
given him a tip on the market, or
he hears that some big trader Is do.
ing this or that, or he has a general
'hunch' that the market is going up
or down, or he sees other people
rushing to buy or sell, or be has
what he thinks Is inside infoFma
ton about a particular stock, he Is
just as much gambler as II he
went into house to play roulette.
What I have observed from the
beginning Is that there Is something
like curse on all easy money, or
money that is mde without your rem
dering an equivalent for 1t In hard
work. Such money creates a kind
of fever which confuses your intel
lect, warps your judgment, makes
you deaf to the dictates Of common
sense, units you for honest work Of
any kind, and generally prevents you
from leading a sane, normal life. If
this fever stays in your system for
any length of time 1t Is sure to leave
you permanently disabled-with no
capacity left to buckle down to real
work; nerve shattered, self-respect
gone, only a ghost Of your old SELF"