The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-08
Frederick fIaskin's Letter
Wask;ngton's Wise and Otheryise
0psunae onssno e - 49,

ports and studied them learnes
that Il was Al inevitable a. the
succession Of night and day that
the price Of cotton would rise. Ey-
eryone knows that the price Of cot.
ton-last fall o. dirt-cheap bargain
has risen notably.
: The students among the Wash.
ington officials who were able 10
take advantage aof this informa-
ton bought cotton last year. Thew
now have made substantial profits
The same is true of the stock
markets. The first group governed
by the tipsters, buy on margin b.
cause Of some stray fragment Of in
formation passed along. A small ,
fluctuation in prices, such as no
man can foresee but such as A.
small group in Wall street can
manipulate, wipes out such specu-
lators. The studious Washington
ian buys stocks not on margin but
outright. The momentarily fluctu-
alton cannot disturb him. His
purchases are based On a knovl-
edge Of the supply and demand Of
various commodities in the coun-
try and what they are likely to be .
for a long time in advance. He
cannot be fooled. He merely hangs
on until the price of his stock rises
to a point where he believes the in
evitable reaction will set in; then
he sells and takes his profit.
What . Big Market May Mean.
Recently there was a million
share day on the New York Stock
Exchange. This generally was
heralded by brokers as an indica-
ton Of growing prosperity and
they encouraged the public to buy
the stocks which were being Of
fered.
Immediately afterwards a close
student of national and interna-
tional affairs made the following
analysis.
"If a million shares were traded
in, they had to come from some,
where. They were stocks which
are held by the big investors, the
men who make a close study OF,
fundamental economic conditions.
When big men dump their stocks
on the market they surely cannot
be expecting permanent increases
in prices. They must be expecting
lower prices or they would hold on
With the country facing a winter
of curtailed industrial output due
to the strikes, the big men appear
to think that these particular
stocks are not going any higher;
therefore they are unloading before!
the reaction sets in. The little,
trader sees a big day on the ex-
change, assumes that stocks are.
active because the list is due for a
rise, and buys on margin. Small,
snap-judgment men are buying.
what big, investigating men are
selling. Somebody is going to-
lose"
The general feeling is that the
fundamental conditions in the
United States are getting better
slowly but steadily and the above
analysis does not apply to every
thing. A certain type of stocks was
under discussion, and what was
said reveals the manner in which
the stock market is played from
the two opposing angles.
1t is agreed by those who know
most about the subject that there
is no royal road to knowledge Of
the bushes situation and to the
great gateway of opportunity in the
teeming world of American trade.
1t is agreed also, however, that
care and study devoted to the signs
of the times as revealed by the re-
ports which the government COM
piles and makes available to every
one will be- repaid with an under
standing of conditions procurible
in no other way.
Last June an executive of a big
industrial concern who had been
Washington reports con-
sistently reached the conclusion
that it would be wise for his COM =
pany to order coal. He laid in a
large supply at $3.50 a ton. Later.
other companies were shutting
down or struggling with priorities
and paying up to s12 for wildcat
coal, he sat tight and kept on
studying Washington reports.