Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Account Of The Stocks Or Public Funds Of This Kingdom.
bought of the Company ; though shares already purchased may be transferred from one person to another . This being the case , there is frequentl y a great disproportion between the ori ginal value of the shares , and what is given for them when transferred ; for if there are more buyers than sellers , a person who is indifferent about selling will not part with his share without a considerable profit to himself ; and , the contra
on ry , if many are disposed to sell , and few inclined to buy , the value of such shares will naturally fall , in proportion to the impatience of those who want to turn their Stock into specie . These obervations may serve to give our readers some idea of the . nature of that unjustifiable and dishonest practice called Stockjobbing , the mystery of which consists in nothing more than this ; the
persons concerned in that practice , who are denominated Stock-jobbers , make contracts to buy or sell , at a certain distant time , a certain quantity of some particular Stock , against which time they endeavour , according as their contract is , either to raise or lower such Stock , by raising rumours , and spreading fictitious stories , in order to induce people either to sell out in a hurry , and consequently cheap , if they are to deliver
Stock ; or to become unwilling to sell , and consequently to make it dearer , if they are to receive Stock . The persons who make these contracts are not in general possessed of any real Stock ; and when the time- comes that they are to receive or deliver the quantity they have contracted for , they Only pay such a sum of money as makes the difference between the price Stock was
at when they made the contract , and the price it happens to be at when the contract is fulfilled ; and it is no uncommon thing for persons not worth iool . to make contracts forthe buying or selling ioo , oool . Stock . In the language of Exchange Alley , the buyer in this case is called the Bull , and the seller the Bear .
Besides these , there is another set of men , though of a higher rank ,, who may properly come tinder the same denomination . These are your great monied men , who are dealers in Stock , - and contractors with the government whenever any new money is to be borrowed . These indeed are not fictitious , but real Buyers and Sellers of Stock ; but b y raising false hopes , or creating groundless fears , by pretending to buy or sell large quantities of Stock on a suddenby using the
fore-men-, tioned set of men as their instruments , and other like practices , are enabled to raise or fall the Stocks one or two per cent , at pleasure . However , the real value of one Stock above another , on account of 5 ts being more profitable to the Proprietors , or any thing that will really , or only in imagination , affect the credit of a Company , or endanger the Government , by which that-credit is secured , must naturally have a
considerable effect on the Stocks . Thus , with respect to the interest of the Proprietors , a share in the Stock of a trading Company , which produces , 1 . or 61 . per cent , per annum , must be more valuable than an Annuity with Government security , that produces no more than 3 I . or 4 I . per cent , per annum ; and consequently such Stock must sell at a hi gher price than such an Annuity . —Though it must be observed , that a share in the Stock of a trading Company producing 5 L
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Account Of The Stocks Or Public Funds Of This Kingdom.
bought of the Company ; though shares already purchased may be transferred from one person to another . This being the case , there is frequentl y a great disproportion between the ori ginal value of the shares , and what is given for them when transferred ; for if there are more buyers than sellers , a person who is indifferent about selling will not part with his share without a considerable profit to himself ; and , the contra
on ry , if many are disposed to sell , and few inclined to buy , the value of such shares will naturally fall , in proportion to the impatience of those who want to turn their Stock into specie . These obervations may serve to give our readers some idea of the . nature of that unjustifiable and dishonest practice called Stockjobbing , the mystery of which consists in nothing more than this ; the
persons concerned in that practice , who are denominated Stock-jobbers , make contracts to buy or sell , at a certain distant time , a certain quantity of some particular Stock , against which time they endeavour , according as their contract is , either to raise or lower such Stock , by raising rumours , and spreading fictitious stories , in order to induce people either to sell out in a hurry , and consequently cheap , if they are to deliver
Stock ; or to become unwilling to sell , and consequently to make it dearer , if they are to receive Stock . The persons who make these contracts are not in general possessed of any real Stock ; and when the time- comes that they are to receive or deliver the quantity they have contracted for , they Only pay such a sum of money as makes the difference between the price Stock was
at when they made the contract , and the price it happens to be at when the contract is fulfilled ; and it is no uncommon thing for persons not worth iool . to make contracts forthe buying or selling ioo , oool . Stock . In the language of Exchange Alley , the buyer in this case is called the Bull , and the seller the Bear .
Besides these , there is another set of men , though of a higher rank ,, who may properly come tinder the same denomination . These are your great monied men , who are dealers in Stock , - and contractors with the government whenever any new money is to be borrowed . These indeed are not fictitious , but real Buyers and Sellers of Stock ; but b y raising false hopes , or creating groundless fears , by pretending to buy or sell large quantities of Stock on a suddenby using the
fore-men-, tioned set of men as their instruments , and other like practices , are enabled to raise or fall the Stocks one or two per cent , at pleasure . However , the real value of one Stock above another , on account of 5 ts being more profitable to the Proprietors , or any thing that will really , or only in imagination , affect the credit of a Company , or endanger the Government , by which that-credit is secured , must naturally have a
considerable effect on the Stocks . Thus , with respect to the interest of the Proprietors , a share in the Stock of a trading Company , which produces , 1 . or 61 . per cent , per annum , must be more valuable than an Annuity with Government security , that produces no more than 3 I . or 4 I . per cent , per annum ; and consequently such Stock must sell at a hi gher price than such an Annuity . —Though it must be observed , that a share in the Stock of a trading Company producing 5 L