Monopolies -- United States; Railroads and state -- United States
Nearly all of the financial operations of Wall street brokers are of a
like character. Some of them involve immense amounts. One man makes a
fortune, and another becomes bankrupt in a day. Wall street is the place
where men of all creeds and nationalities meet to engage in this kind of
gambling traffic. Men run about the streets--into the "gold room," the
"clearing house," their faces flushed, their whole person excited, their
appearance "distorted, hair dishevelled," their voices hoarse, all
intent on making money, not in a legitimate way, but by the chance of a
rise or fall in gold, bonds, and stock. Let us see some of the terms
used by them in their business. The rings operating in stocks are
divided into two classes--"bulls" and "bears." They have the advantage
of the real bear and bull in this: they can change from one to the other
as the occasion serves. Daniel Drew, Col. Scott, and Commodore
Vanderbilt can be bulls to-day and bears to-morrow, as their interests
dictate. The object of the _bulls_ is to advance the price of stocks;
that of the _bears_ to depreciate. They thrive most when the people
generally are in want, or when some public calamity unsettles commerce.
They oftentimes devise means to bring on a panic, that they may break
the market and buy favorite stocks at low rates. They do not care how
much the community may suffer, or how many men engaged in legitimate
business may be ruined, provided their own interests are served. We take
from _Appleton's Journal_ a description of some of their terms, and
their manner of doing business:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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