34 
any one country is speculating on the future 
trading pi'ofits of that country. 
We also see, by comparing these annual 
totals with the price-movements of individual 
stocks on the chart, that the final result which 
an investor will achieve by investing in British 
stocks is practically unaffected by the number 
of stocks he may select. 
Although the rule that the price of every 
stock is mainly controlled by the trading con 
ditions of the country in which it is chiefly 
dealt in is universal in its application, there 
are, of course, many exceptions to this rule. 
But the exceptions, although by no means in 
frequent, are seldom to be met with amongst 
the representative stocks of any country. 
There are stocks in existence which so 
seldom change hands that their quoted prices 
may be said to solidify to an extent which 
renders them insensible to the prevailing 
Trade Influence. Moreover, individuals or 
groups of individuals frequently create artificial 
exceptions to this rule. 
We will illustrate our meaning by giving 
an example of an artificially solidified stock. 
We have already shown that British stocks 
started from a low level of prices in 1893, 
steadily rose until 1896-7, and then fell away 
again more or less rapidly. This was the