Without the Bulls and Bears, life in the Stock Exchange would be a dull affair, for the anxiety that stocks and shares should rise and fall within a short period, before too many rates have been paid, naturally leads to excitement, and undoubtedly causes the promulgation of many rumours and the exaggeration of actual news. The very existence of a big Bull account, or of a big Bear account, naturally has a most important effect upon the market--the former in weakening it, and the latter in strengthening it. Every Bull is, of course, a potential seller, and every Bear a potential buyer. While the Bulls are buying prices may rise, and while the Bears are selling they may fall; but the time comes when their operations, however successful, have to be completed, and the movement in the opposite direction naturally sets in. Good news is frequently followed by a sharp relapse in prices, because of the selling by Bulls anxious to take advantage of it. Bad news is frequently without effect, or followed by a rise, because the Bears see their opportunity of buying back the stock they have sold, and thus support the market. Thus it comes that the rates at the settlement are eagerly watched, that some indication may be obtained as to whether a Bull account or a Bear account exists. The Bulls may have it all their own way, and by concerted action, called a "Bull campaign," by the dissemination of stories favourably affecting the stock--true, half-true, or untrue--may bring about a "rig." This, however, is a condition of the market the artificiality of which becomes very evident when the time for selling sets in. Unless the delicate position is managed with extreme skill, there will be left after the unloading a residue of Stale Bulls--Bulls who are compelled to close their accounts at a loss. On the other hand, the Bears may have it all their own way. By concerted action they may "bang the market," indulge in a "Bear raid," and bring prices down to a level much lower than is warranted by the intrinsic merits of the security which they have attacked. The talk is all gloom. At the end of the raid, however, the position of the Bear is an exceedingly dangerous one; he may find it impossible to obtain the stock which, having sold, he has undertaken to deliver. Prices begin to rise again, and the "Bear covering," or buying back, only enhances the upward movement. In time it may become impossible to buy back at any price; there is no stock obtainable; the Bears are "cornered." Unless a Bear so situated can make terms with the one to whom he has sold the stock, or with someone who will let him have it, he stands in the position of one who cannot meet his engagements, or, to use another term of Stock Exchange zoology, applied to all members struggling against imminent difficulties, he is a Lame Duck. CHAPTER IX OPTION DEALING