The Washington herald., 1929-11-02
STREET TOLLS
T0STRA|GHTEN
SALES TANGLE
Brokers and Clerks on Floor;
New Jersey Standard Oil
Aids Feeling by 25c Extra
By JAMES P. MAHER

SAAAh6 Oub anu
with the detail work resulting from
the record.breaking stock trading Of
the last week, was reported by bro
kers, today.
The brokers and their clerks
toiled increasingly throughout the
day. Full membership of both the
Stock Exchange and the Curb re-
mained on the floor during the
regular business hours although
trading has been suspended until
Monday.
The exchange floor gave the ap;
pearance of a normal four to five
million share day. Brokers and
attendants hurried from one trad.
ing pole to another. AS soon as
one error was corrected another
had to be puzzled out.
II
AT the same time office staffs
continued the unceasing effort to
catch up on the work they have
been engaged on, almost without
rest, since last Thursday.
Further favorable developments
came to light to enhance the more
cheerful sentiment that has pre-
vailed in Wall Street in the last two
days. Alfred P. Sloan, returning
from Europe. expressed wonderment
at the break in stock prices in view
of the satisfactory condition of bust.
ness.
Banks were busy clearing checks
on payment of the close to $400. .00O-
600 interest and dividend disburse-
ments sent out as of November /.
Standard Oil of New Jersey de-
clared an. extra dividend of 25 cents
share and reports from trade GEN.
ters indicated several other COM
panies would make special payments
as a result of their increased earn
tngs this year.
The public has little realizati ton
of the amount of detail work re-
sulting from stock trading. All
business on the floor is conducted
entirely by word" During the
60,0O0.000 share turnover of the
last week. blocks of $1,OOO.OOO and
more of securities changed hands
with the brokers' participating in
the trade simply making a quick
notation.
The report slip of the. trade is
made ott by the clerk and shot
through the tube to the ticker
operator.
In the rush of business during
the weeks avalanche of orders,
brokers dashed off their notes so
hurriedly that many of the names
were unreadable. AS a result. the
I'D. k" or don't know slips
passed from member to member
today as rapidly as buy or sell
slips were handled on an ordinary
trading day.
Trades made by Doremus were
mixed with those made by Domi-
nick, the two Hutton firms were
in similar mixups as were such
houses as Chaplin, Clark and Childs.
etc.
While confusion on names COM
prised most of the ~errors. there
were numerous mistakes in han
ding stop.orders and in transmit
ting the orders from office tc the
floor.
Where the difference as to price
was of any amount when the
brokers got together for settlement
the decision was left to the arbi-
trage committee of the exchange.
When there was but a fraction Of
point or so to be settled, the
brokers usually expedited the work
by tossing coin
Under the rules of both the
Stock Exchange and the Curb and
loss resulting from errors must
be taken by the broker. The Gus
toner never is penalized.
.-, At 10 o'clock a representative of
the secretary's office was on the
floor of the exchange to make GER
tain that all specialists and brokers
were on the floor. Under order
of the officials the members had
to remain until all their open orders
were taken care of. Violation Of
the order would result in suspen-
sion from the exchange.
Some traders journeyed to Wall
Street hoping they could beat
the tape" by getting their brok-
ers to execute orders 'over-the-
counter" as business not trans
acted on the floor Of the exchange
is termed. The exchange govern
ors stopped that by ruling that no
over-the-counter trades could - be
handled except by special permission
of officials.
With the members of both the
Stock Exchange and the Curb com
PEELED to remain on the floor again
tomorrow morning, officials of the
exchange believe the confusion will
be entirely Strengthened out by Mon
days opening.
Larger brokerage firms will main
tain a double staff Of clerks work
ing over Sunday and others Eill
continue work until all accounts are
UP to date. They are preparing to
handle another outhurst Of big trad.
4. Il.