250 THE WORK OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE
ments, the odd-lot dealer is apt to be “damned if he does and
damned if he doesn’t.”
Risks of Loss to the Odd-Lot Dealer.—I]t has been pointed
rut that the odd-lot dealer must temporarily go short of stock
when his customer buys, and go long of it when he sells. One
inevitable disadvantage under which the odd-lot dealer must
labor is the constant risk of suffering actual losses by sudden
rises or declines in the prices of these stock commitments,
whether long or. short.
The odd-lot dealer has to take these losses constantly, and
frequently they benefit his customer. To illustrate, in a typical
instance a customer ordered, with instructions to “wait for
sale,” 50 shares of a stock, for which at the time 13 was bid
and 18 asked. Since the next sale occurred at 14 he got his
stock for 1424. But on the sale following that, the price had
risen to 18. Had the customer ordered 100 shares instead of
so he might have had to pay 18 for it. Furthermore, the odd-
fot dealer was faced with a loss of 374 in covering the short sale
which he had made to obtain the 50 shares for the customer.
Such cases where the odd-lot customer gets off much better
than either the 100-share customer or the odd-lot dealer are by
no means rare. Conversely, in the event of a rapidly sinking
market, the seller of odd-lots may often have a similar advan-
tage over both a seller of 1bo-share lots or the odd-lot dealer.
In this connection it must be remembered that the odd-lot
dealer is always willing to sell or buy odd-lots of stock. In
less than 100-share orders his function is akin to that of the
“jobber” in the London Stock Exchange; he is the core of the
whole market, in which the commission broker is a middleman.
There is keen competition between the odd-lot houses on the
Exchange, and to hold his business the odd-lot dealer must con-
stantly assume the risks of his calling.
Expenses of the Odd-Lot Business.—Apart from the
risks which must be taken. the odd-lot dealer is in some respects
