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often  happens  that  a  stock  either  gradually
improves  or  deteriorates  in  stability  in  direct
ratio  with  an  improvement  or  a  deterioration  in
its  desirability  as  an  investment  ;  for  example,
the  average  annual  fluctuation  of  Grand  Trunk
Railway  Second  Preference  Stock  in  1901,  based
on  the  preceding  three  years,  was  about  30  per
cent.  ;  whereas  the  average  annual  fluctuation
at  the  present  time,  based  on  the  last  three
years,  is  under  10  per  cent.  In  such  case  the
stock  must  be  treated  as  if  it  were  a  new  stock
which  has  not  yet  found  its  proper  market
position,  and,  to  minimise  the  element  of
chance,  it  should  be  avoided  until  the  permanence ­
  of  the  average  annual  fluctuation  of
the  stock,  at  its  altered  level,  can  be  appreciated
at  its  true  limits.
Again,  in  selecting  stocks  that  are  subject
to  different  market  influences,  it  must  be  remembered ­
  that  the  chief  market  for  any
particular  security  is  liable  to  transposition.
By  market  influence  we  mean  the  influence
created  by  the  general  investment  conditions
obtaining  on  the  Stock  Exchange  in  which  the
stock  is  mainly  dealt  in.  Thus,  a  few  years
ago  a  number  of  the  bond  issues  of  American
Railways  were  chiefly  held  in  this  country,  and
the  principal  market  for  them  was  accordingly
the  London  Stock  Exchange.  But,  owing  to