I do not say this simply because I am a broker in options, but because it is my honest conviction that options are cheap at almost any price, when a speculator has occasion to use them. If money is lost by buyers of options, it is because many of them are bought by people who have not sufficient reasons for doing so, and after the option has been bought, the owner does not know what to do with it. I have, for example, known people to be bulls on Lake Shore, and then go and spend money for a put in Western Union. Is it any wonder that men who do business on such principles lose money? That many stock brokers object to options is natural. They look out for commissions, and greatly prefer to buy and sell several times a day on stop orders or on margins, even if customers lose money thereby, rather than see them make money two or three times a year, through operations extended over periods of two or three months each. I do not mean to say that all stock brokers are of this kind, but if speculators recall their own experience, they will undoubtedly remember how often their broker said to them, “Cut your losses,” if the transaction was against them, while, if the transaction showed a profit, the advice was, “Taking profits will never make any man poorer.” All these things make commissions for the broker, and this is the object of his business. Another reason for the unwillingness of some brokerage houses to encourage speculation against options must be found in the fact that a great many of them have not sufficiently large capital to enter upon large transactions without any other margin than the option. Although I acknowledge that it is hardly fair to ask a broker to do an unlimited amount of business based on options alone, the fact, nevertheless, exists that the strongest houses have always been glad to encourage trading against options, and only the more insignificant houses are opposed to it. A well planned and matured operation, looking far ahead, backed by ample capital and patience, is the only way to make a fortune at the Stock Exchange, and prudence demands that in case the speculator’s idea should have been wrong, he should have a safe way for a retreat open. Options will fulfill all these demands; and no matter how expensive, if the speculator can afford it, it is the only way of speculating in a safe and reasonable manner. There are some people who are under the impression that they know everything already, and have nothing to learn, and such may be amused, but not benefited, by reading this book; others, however, who are inclined to speculate (and there are and always will be many of them) cannot fail to derive great benefit from the perusal of Mr. Crump’s interesting work, and I hope I may put money in some people’s pockets or save others from ruin by sending this book forth among the American people. H. W. ROSENBAUM. NEW YORK, NOV., 1886.