The work of the Stock Exchange

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1831284952

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-225876

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Meeker, James Edward http://d-nb.info/gnd/126597340

Title:: The work of the Stock Exchange

Edition:: Revised edition

Place of publication:: New York

Publisher:: The Ronald Press Company

Year of publication:: [1930]

Scope:: XVI, 720 Seiten; Illustrationen, Diagramme

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter II. Organized security markets and their economic functions

Collection:: Economics Books

42 THE WORK OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE ity in a stock exchange, that Mr. Ford has made famous in automobile production. As a stock exchange grows, it like- wise produces a concentration of collective intelligence and current news regarding security values, which in turn increases the safety of dealings in it. 2. Superior Marketability.—Most unorganized security markets are intermittent and spasmodic in operation. But, due mainly to its greater safety of dealings, a stock exchange market tends to become continuous, with the ability to facili- tate speedy purchases and sales. For this reason, securities listed on a stock exchange are as a rule much more negotiable than those not so listed, even irrespective of the inherent char- acter of the securities themselves. This is perhaps the most basic economic service rendered by stock exchanges, and is of enormous practical significance. Its full value to business can be gauged only by what happens when the vital quality of negotiability is lacking. It is a well-known and yet frequently sverlooked axiom in practical business life that “a thing is worth what you can get for it.” Your automobile, for which you paid $2,500 and which you cheerfully inventory at $1,500, is in reality worth to you only what you can actually sell it for, whether it be $2,000 or $200. It is, of course, equally true of securities, that at any given time they are actually worth what you can sell them for, no more and no less. But there is this important difference. There is no organized market for used cars. If you suddenly find you must sell your automobile, you must call on your friends, and your friends’ friends, and skilfully talk automobiles to them. You must consult garages and agencies, and “perhaps in addition spend both time and money in advertising your car in the newspapers, in order to find a buyer. In a word, you are forced yourself to create a market in which to sell your automobile. But when you wish to sell your 100 shares of United States Steel, or any other listed stock for that matter, you can do so instantly and without especial exertion on your part, for

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