CONTENTS
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broker. Composition of a “crowd.” “What's Steel?” Effecting
1 sale. Reporting the sale. Inviolability of Stock Exchange con-
tracts. Origin of demand. Machinery of the ticker system.
Reading the stock ticker. Limitations of the stock ticker. Inac-
tive stock post. Complete publicity of Stock Exchange trans-
actions. Quotation system. Value of a ready market. Scope of
the stock market. True nature of the stock market,
CuapTeER VII
CREDIT TRANSACTIONS IN SECURITIES +
Need of understanding credit operations. Sales for cash and on
credit. Fallacies regarding credit. Debts in terms of goods.
Purchasing a house on credit. Credit sale of a crop. Use of
credit in security transactions. Financial terminology. Purchas-
ing securities on credit. Margin purchase of 100 Steel. Duties
of the broker. “Margin calls” and profit-taking. Selling for
deferred delivery. Selling 100 Corn Products short. The pur-
chaser’s attitude. Function of the “loan crowd.” Loans made
“flat” or “at a premium.” “Short covering.” Reciprocal nature
of short sales and margin purchases. Fluctuating values in goods
and in money. Twofold aspects of margin purchases; of short
sales. Stock prices and the money rate. Shortages of money.
Efforts to prevent “corners.” Use of credit for investment trans-
actions. Speculative nature of margin purchases and short sales.
Effect of short sales on values and on prices. Effect of purchases
and sales on prices. Automatic checks against inaccurate prices.
Economic value of short covering. Stabilization of security
prices. Legislation against the short sale.
THE FrLoor TRADER AND THE SPECIALIST - « . Co
Cuaprter VIII
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Function of dealer in maintaining continuous market. The floor
rader. His economic services. Uninformed prejudice against
he floor trader. The floor trader’s profits. State and Federal
stamp taxes. Economic effects of stamp taxes. The specialist.
Clearance and trading of the specialist. Precedence of customers’
orders. Specialist as broker. Odd-lot business of specialist.
“Crossing” orders. Occasions for specialist's services. Method
»f operating. “Stopping stock.” Congestion in the specialist’s
susiness. Specialist’s book. Before the opening of the market.
Trading at the opening. Execution of stop-loss orders. Advan-
-age of this system of opening. “Touching off stop-loss orders.”
Specialist’s economic services.
CuaprTeEr IX
Tar Opp-LLoT BUSINESS . -
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Odd-lot vs. round lot. Basis for the 100-share unit of trading.
Difficulties with smaller trading unit. The odd-lot system. Evo-
lution of the odd-lot house. Nature of the odd-lot business. A
-ypical odd-lot transaction. Transmission of odd-lot orders.
Uethods of the odd-lot dealer. Usefulness of the short sale. A