My Adventures with Your Money

ll Str

and why it happened, suggests that the New York section of "

aggressive, optimistic, enthusiastic, nervy, fear

ead and would lead the rush, but always failed to take into his reckoning one circumstance in his youth that left a blot on his escutcheon and placed in the hands of unfair opponents an envenomed weapon ready for use. He failed to see the necessity of making friends of

ycophant in his every action, the interest of the Wall Street man of power is always his as against that of the unprotected investor. I look upon this man as a vile person. I could not do as he does if my very existence depended upon such conduct. I would rather be out of

ld is founded and builded upon individual integrity. The business man who allows himself to be used to carry out the base purposes of men in high plac

ed, aroused and stimulated to a point where citizens became imbued with the idea that all promoters who use the advertising columns of newspapers are crooks. And I aver that when the Government used upon me and my associates its rare power of seiz

SH VS. BAD

s who employ flamboyant advertising methods, promise great speculative profits, use other devices which are calculated to separate the public from its mon

dangerous Get-Rich-Quick forces are the men in high places who, by the artful and insidious use of the news co

foreword th

what it is worth, use artful methods to beguile the thinking public into believing the stock is worth par or more, and foist it on inv

per se a Get-Rich-Quick operator. There are honest professional promoters of the display advertising variety a

ealing uproariously to the speculative investing public, performs an actual service and is entitled to a place among honorable men.

is, although the Eastern newspaper-reading public has been taught to

airman of the Executive Board of the Steel Trust, stated under oath at Washington in June that J. P. Morgan never speculates. Ask the average me

do you think I would be a br

gather and transact through offices and branch offices the speculative business which forms the bulk of the transactions of the members. The "kitty," or "r

of the speculator's money must come out every year to pay the enormous cost of maintaining a vast system of stock-brokerage offices, stock exchanges, tel

of the Government's Department of Justice is used to crush out this sort of gambling institution. Now, what is the difference in prin

unimportan

u out of his pocket when the market goes your way and keeps yo

r you and carry them-some of them do and most of them don't, as is s

ng feature is concerned. The only real difference is that when you gamble on market fluctua

STREET AND THE

e same trick that he is occasionally accused of. The "interests" know at every hour in the day approximately how many shares of stocks have been borrowed for delivery against "short" sales or are being carried on margin for the long account. They know what the public's short interest or long interest is, and they, too, have it in their power to shake out the public at any moment they

are ruined physically, morally and financially by stock gambling than by all the other forms of ordinary gambling combined. Monte Carlo is a Christian philanthropy compared with "Wall Street." You have quite as good, if not a better chance to win a fortune at Monte Carlo than you have by putting up "margins" against Stock Exchange bulling and bearing, and

ke a big noise. Horse-racing, like bucketshopping, is an avenue for speculation-gambling-and it keeps much money out of Wall Street. Fakirs, who are the tools of Wall Street,

achinery, sets up a competitive business which caters to the gambling instinct in the way of fluctuating mining stocks. The speculating public gets action, likes it, and invests money that might have been used in margin-

infinitely greater damage. The one that a coterie of high-class Wall Street thimbleriggers are really "after," because he thwarted them in their swindling operations by exposing them in his newspaper, but against whom they can not make a case, has a skeleton in his closet. They bring it forth, dangle it in the

t it wi

anded a million times, it would still be impossible for him to conceive such a gi

l over the eyes of the "sucker-public," and not only see no reason why they sh

TING OF M

ne's progress, through the constructive period, other very large sums are generally required to pay

d the desert rattler, whose only relief from the everlasting silence of the untrodden reaches of arid wastes is the sex-call of the coyote-has the choice of just two markets for the sale of his

purchase of any mining property. This is particularly true if one of the others

n finds himself in the position where he must either accept the first offer, however small,

y small means, who incorporates a company to own and develop the property and finances th

l use of the advertising columns of newspapers. He lacks "pull" or power sufficient to get his stock and mine talked of favorably

list who does not patronize the display advertising columns of the newspapers. Nor does it establish a case against the wares of the promoter who does. The promotion expenses incurred by the advert

erty. His firm, members of the New York Stock Exchange, have been advising people in their widely circulated market literature to buy the stock at this figure. And yet the property is without a reduction works, will need $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 i

amp boom early in 1908, the valuation agreed upon for the property was $700,000. This was considerably more than

lion, would have likely remained undeveloped. The big public demand in the early 70's for Comstock mining shares of all descriptions was created by a series of flamboyant flotations and aggressive stock-market

th his operating machinery, namely, facilities for appealing to the speculating-investing public, and you hit the small Western mine man a solar-plexus blow. Conversely, every ob

e in Congress. The best sentiment of the Far West, as I was able to gather it, favored the idea that the last hope of the small Western mine owner had been shattered. During the short period

of any of the great Far Western States who has successfully financed a mining proposition in the East except by delivering his property in its entirety into the hands of some big interes

E WALL ST

inance the proposition-after I had failed by this method, in the teeth of the bankers' panic of 1907-8, to dispose of enough stock to finance the company for deep mine development, mill equipment and the payment to the original owners of the price for the control agreed u

ot absorbing stock. An effort to induce leading stock brokers to mention the issue favorably in their market letters failed. Those who were willing to give the

ed to protect the shareholders' interest in such an enterprise. Commission mining-stock brokers of that period, who put their customers into a stock at, say, 30, were tempted to advise profit-taking when the price advanced to, say,

newspapers, asking them to purchase the stock on the New York Curb through their own brokers. Also, Hayden, Stone & Company, the Boston and New Yo

ished with stock certificates to supply the market, Nat. C. Good

tructive to the reader in sever

t always "get the money" when he succeeds

just as soon "skin" a mining promoter of this order as t

e "big" fellows will sick on to him the newspapers or newspaper men whom they control or influence. Dust will be thrown into the eyes of the public s

ue hotel; our brokers were members of the New York Stock Exchange. For a month we had used, every day, display advertisements in the financial columns of New York City daily newspapers, signed by Nat. C. Goodwin, to boom the stock. About 600,000 sha

n engineer of high rank was examining the property. If his report should be favorable, a deal was practically assured that would involve the expenditure of $1,000,000 for deep mine development, a railroad, and adeq

rk Stock Exchange house was executing the supporting orders from the "inside" impressed the "talent." Public buying through other New York Stock Exchange houses further convinced Curb veterans that the stock was "the goods." Up went

OSSING" OF RAW

0 shares in the open market at an average price of about $1.39, and the sale of 1,800 shares at a little above this average. For the first time in the

hey had purchased 17,800 shares at an average price of $1.37?, and the sale

ted 16,800 shares at an average price of $1.40, while o

on to throw $43,000 behind the market to hold it. This was a comparatively small load to carry and did not ala

arly buyers were reaping a harvest. But this did not appear to be the explanation for all of the selling. Interest in the stock was now widespread. T

rders, called on me at my apartment. I inquired of him what protective orders he thought

ying order for 5,000 shares at $1

for me the next morning and that he would, of course, giv

list that would not be raided by professionals if supporting orders were not known to be in

5 I was awakened by my valet. He said Nat. C. Goodwin wanted me on the long di

e the Knickerbocker Trust Company to pay you $25,000 to s

up?" I i

to 60 cents on the Curb soon after the

Our brokers have been on the job. I will see what is doing an

5,000 shares of stock at $1.35 at the opening and had withdra

the market to break that way. Support the sto

ad rallied the market to $1.16. The recovery was only temp

stock exhausted our cash balance on deposit with his firm. They had a number of drafts out for collection, attached to stocks sold to Western brokers, that had not yet been credited to us. There w

eral of them to buy large blocks of the stock at a limit of 95 cents. This was 35 points ab

to the office of the brokers w

in the market price of a stock that had been so widely exploited must prove shoc

uy 5,000 shares at 95!" I tendered fi

ey reported that they had purchased 2,000 shares, for which I g

60 to 95 on the purchase of 2,000 shares. This was another convince

ied me that I had be

tocks and our money. They had an advantage, which stock brokers understand well. Having executed most of our supporting orders, their agents on t

advancing $1,000,000 for railroad and mill construction. A sufficient tonnage of ore had not been blocke

n trading had reached huge proportions. One clique of Curb brokers were reported to have been persistent sellers t

as away on a hunting-trip, to come back to town. Next night both of these men, Nat. C. Goodwin and myself met in my apartments behind closed doors.

not less than a dozen other securities had "busted" wide open at various times on the New York Curb and New York Stock Exchange, but Stock Exchange houses were spon

York Sun printed an account of the "break" on the front page, top of last column. It began in a strain that in

lition Mines Company and emphasized the fact that I "of

le cross." Nor did any of the other

York Tri

with leading the attack on it yesterday, but members of the firm said that they

win & Company had failed. Another followed it that the Rawhide Coalition Mines Company was about to go into the hands of a receiver. The Nevada Mining News accused Nat. Boas of San Francisco and J. C. Weir of New York of exchanging messages to this effect over the Logan & Bryan wire systems, so that all

was firm again. On January 14 the price bulged to 70. At this point the stock

res of stock. The issue had been well exploited. It had a big following and a broad market. Some excellent judges of mine values had b

to be perfected to avoid a repetition of the trouble whi

" MARKE

kers, representatives there of Nat C. Goodwin & Company of Reno, and a

er of fact, it would be difficult to lay your finger on a single big interest of this kind that has not such a representation. These houses, of course, make it a rule to recommend the purchase of stocks in which their principals are interested. Affiliations of this

cipally by the use of the market literature and accompanying market manipulation, these houses have placed with their customers the securities of their firm members and associates.

siness this way, he should understand the underlying principle of

ney and then refraining from listing the stock or establishing an open market for it. You can't finance an enterprise of consequence these days by any such procedure. It is practically impossib

and necessitates that the inside interests must support the security in the open market. Therefore, it becomes necessary for the successful marketing of the stock by the promoters, once a demand is created and public buying is under way, that stockholders shall be kept in full touch with the

illions of dollars' worth of securities to investors-is to place stock where it will "stay put," that is, not come out on the open m

g a broad market, to stimulate public interest, and to increase the price to a point within the bounds of intrinsic plus reasonable speculative worth. Support of the market to the point of stimulation is moral obliquity, however, when dishonestly performed for the sole benefit o

ck of stock that was pressing for sale from a quarter that I was under no obligation to. Even in that instance I gave the investor much of the benefit my associates secured by letting him have stock at the same figure at