THE FLOOR TRADER AND THE SPECIALIST 223
let us suppose that the stock selected closed the previous day at
93, and that overnight announcement has been made that its
dividend would be increased.
Knowing in advance that the opening will be active, the
specialist arrives at his post that morning at 9:30, and begins
to enter in his book the orders which are given him. The tubes
and the boys on the floor handle many thousands of separate
slips of paper between 9:30 and 9:45 A.M. Every one has to
be opened and examined, and if the man who reads them makes
any mistake, he is, of course, held responsible for it. In this
connection it may be said that out-of-town branches can greatly
assist the specialist by not sending in, just before the opening,
orders with limits 30 points away from the market, as the con-
gestion at this time is at its height.
The specialist finds at 9:59 (see Figure 14) that, counting
both his old orders and those received that morning, he has
stop orders at 95 to buy 300 shares for West and 100 for Lee:
at 954, 100 for Lamb; at 9514, 200 for Ross; at 9554, 200
for Long; and at 9534, 200 for Parlos. On the other hand, he
has to sell at 95, 200 for Lewis, 500 for Park, 1,000 for Fisk,
700 for Starr, 100 for Lorin, 200 for May, and 400 for Dean.
In addition, there are the selling orders at 951%, 9514, etc.,
which are indicated in the illustration.
Before 10 A.M. the crowd begins to gather about the post,
ready to execute orders in this stock as soon as the gong sounds.
On a day like this there are naturally many more buying than
selling orders, since the dividend has been increased. Conse-
quently, it is easier for sellers to find buyers than for buyers to
find sellers. Each seller who comes into the crowd says, “I will
sell a hundred.” At once he is pounced upon by a buyer and
he stops his stock with him at a fair opening. That is, the
seller agrees to sell his stock to the buyer at a fair opening
price; for reasons already given, no price can be named before
[0:00 A.M. Such an arrangement is, of course, beneficial to
both buyer and seller, and insures both against executing their
