Bull market

“ Instead, he would venture on with the others. It was the year of the great bull market, when it seemed as if wealth hung low on every bough, and all that a bold man had to do to win a fortune was to pick his stock and make his stake. ”

“ The sensation of being short in a rampant bull market has been pictured as similar to that of being chained by the heels to a rising balloon, without any idea of the height to which the gas will carry it—not a cheery picture for the contemplation of one who is bearishly disposed. ”

“ After the stock market had been sold to a standstill and its weak timbers eliminated, by May, 1907, it was only natural, 786in view of its previous drastic liquidation and heavy decline, that with good crop weather following the backward spring, stocks should advance. The keel of a future bull market of large dimensions had been laid by the disastrous liquidation that had occurred, and we subsequently witnessed its development on a rapidly ascending scale. It is a law of nature that action follows reaction. ”

“ Seeing, of a sudden, that the market might even go utterly to pieces, without hope of redemption, the old-time bull leader, now with a pallor on his plump face, leaped into the Pit, and tried to hold the runaway forces within bounds. ”

“ Look at little Sioux City! busted wide open and knocked over the ropes, but here they come waltzing up again, as full of sass as a fox terrier with a flea on his tail. Talk about grit, the time a man wants to show that article's when he's busted. Any fool can be cheerful on a bull market. ”

“ 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. ”

“ From ten to three they stood before the quotation board and watched a quick-witted boy chalk the price-changes, which one or another of the customers read aloud from the tape as it came from the ticker. The higher stocks went the more numerous the customers became, being allured in great flocks to the Street by the tales of their friends, who had profited greatly by the rise. All were winning, for all were buying stocks in a bull market. ”

“ THE MONEY MARKET AND STOCK PRICES
Perhaps no other one thing influences the movement of stock prices so much, in a large way, as money conditions. It is impossible to have a big bull market without plenty of money. During a bull market nearly all stocks are bought on margin, which is explained in Chapter XVI. This makes it necessary for brokers to borrow large sums of money. When money is tight, it is impossible to get enough to carry on a large movement in stocks. ”

“ They also made the whole market run into a wild bull speculation, stimulated by a rush of “shorts” to cover their contracts, and a sudden influx of fresh buyers from the outside public. Reckless buying by these made it easy for the bull leaders to run prices up sharply, especially as it was expected or feared by many that the example set by Union Pacific in dividend raising would, or at least might, be followed by certain other large companies, both railway and industrial, whether the increase was justified by actual net earnings, or only intended for stock-jobbing purposes. ”

“ Within the major movements of stock prices, there always are several minor movements, which are caused by various influences. One of the important causes is the technical condition of the market. Another cause might be called a psychological one. When stocks are moving up steadily in a bull market, people closely connected with the market expect a reaction and watch for it. ”

“ Speculators can usually find an abundance of literary food suited to their particular tastes, as witness the following, issued by a prominent market forecaster simultaneously with the above: “We wish you to keep in mind that the biggest speculation yet witnessed in the present bull market is still to come. Now that the reactionary trend in the market has been definitely halted, you can look with assurance for higher prices in many issues in the near future. Continue to pick up our favorites as outlined in our letters, as we expect them to prove features.” ”

“ Sally formed a new firm immediately—Hayward & Co.—with his cashier as partner.
IV. All mundane things have an end, even bull markets and bear markets. The bull market saw Hayward & Co. doing a good business, as did everybody else in Wall Street. It ended, and the firm’s customers, after a few bad “slumps” in prices, were admonished to turn bears in order to recoup their losses. Bears believe prices are too high and should go lower; bulls, optimists, believe the opposite. The public can’t sell stocks “short” any more than the average man is left-handed. ”

“ For six consecutive days stocks had fallen with scarcely an hour's temporary rally. Every effort of the bull operators, who had ruled the market for the two years past, to stem the tide was futile. Below the surface, in the silent depths of growing suspicion and fear, an army of sappers and miners under the eye of one man were digging at the foundations of the business world—the faith of man in his fellow-man. ”

“ Fluctuations in prices have been increased rather than diminished. The corrective influence of the bear side of the market having been restricted, the tendency to an inflated bull movement was increased in times of prosperity. This in turn made the danger of radical collapse all the greater in240 proportion as the bull movement was abnormal. The greater funds needed to carry stocks on a cash basis further increased the danger when collapse was threatened. The result was an increased incentive to reckless speculation and manipulation. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Excitement in the Pit is not always over wheat. It may be oats. It was Canadian Western Oats which became the storm centre in 1911 when the Grain Growers got into difficulty with the "bears." Traders who attempt to boost prices are known as "bulls"; those who are interested in depressing the market are "bears." A trader may be a bear to-day and a bull to-morrow; thus the opposing groups are constantly changing in make-up and the firm which was a chief opponent in yesterday's trading may be lined up alongside the day following, fighting with instead of against. ”

“ Stocks, like food, clothing and all human necessities, are more or less subject to the laws of supply and demand; and when the traders and investors throughout the country become convinced that it is time to buy stocks, a bull market is sure to ensue; then when everybody has acquired all they want—and some of them more—and they make up their minds to sell, it is only natural that values should recede ”

“ Investors, their equity leveraged with bank and broker loans, crowded into stocks of exciting "new technologies", such as the radio and mass electrification. The bull market - especially in issues of public utilities - was fueled by "mergers, new groupings, combinations and good earnings" and by corporate purchasing for "employee stock funds". ”

“ It is now universally conceded that an Unknown Bull has invaded the Chicago wheat market since the beginning of the month, and is now dominating the entire situation. The Bears profess to have no fear of this mysterious enemy, but it is a matter of fact that a multitude of shorts were driven ignominiously to cover on Tuesday last, when the Great Bull gathered in a long line of two million bushels in a single half hour. Scalping and eighth-chasing are almost entirely at an end, the smaller traders dreading to be caught on the horns of the Unknown. ”

“ He firmly intends to forsake this bull movement, which, apparently, he has spent so much time and toil in building up. But in reality, out of the crash that comes with a collapsing market—and it must collapse when he stands from under!—he is to sit and see a million or two rain down into his lap. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Prices were high and still advancing, and profits large, particularly those of industrial corporations. At the same time a mammoth bull movement was running its course on the Stock Exchange, and the grain crop turned out larger than ever before in our history, while enormous issues of new securities were announced by both railway and industrial corporations. These new issues severely taxed the resources of the money market, already being too heavily drawn upon by the “big men” of the Street to promote their wild bull campaign in stocks, and spasms of stringency were frequent. ”

“ If the stock is very scarce, and the jobber finds it difficult to deliver to purchasers, he will be glad to carry over a bull account for nothing, and may be he will pay a consideration to postpone delivery for a fortnight. [12] On the other hand, if the stock is very plentiful when the settling day arrives, if the sellers have been numerous, and the deliveries are large, the jobber will prefer delivering the stock to the bull speculator to continuing it to the next account, because he wants money to pay those who have sent their stock to market. ”

“ An investor differs from a speculator in the fact that he buys stocks or bonds with the expectation of holding them for some time for the income to be derived from them, without reference to their speculative possibilities. We believe that investors always should give some consideration to the speculative possibilities of their purchases. It frequently is possible to get speculative profits without increase of risk or loss of income.
Bull: One who believes that the market price of stocks will advance is called a bull. Of course, it is possible to be a bull in one stock and a bear in another. ”

“ As a rule, those that follow a natural disposition, rather than the course of the market and the conditions that mould it, are sure to bankrupt themselves sooner or later. I do not mean to maintain that there is no chance for an operator who clings continuously to one side of the market; for in times when conditions favor higher prices there is always some profitable work to be done by the “bear” in checking excesses of a rise; and, when events favor decline, the “bull” may find his chances in intervals of excessive decline. ”

“ A big bull movement in the market terminated that May in a criminal struggle between two powerful factions for the control of a railroad in the Northwest. The prices for the securities involved reached fabulous quotations, but the rest of the market smashed, groveled, shrieked. Investment stocks as safe as the Bank of England went about asking people to take them for nothing. Money became scarcer than charity. ”

“ A gate opens out of the arena, through which first come six gaily-dressed bull baiters on foot, followed by three more riding blindfolded, scarecrow horses, sorry, poor, limping old beasts, which, in man's service have earned a merciful death—their value in the open market would not exceed $2.00 each. ”

“ Cheap money is by no means a “bull argument” from the Stock Exchange point of view, because118 it arises from dull conditions in commerce and industry, and there can be no boom in the securities which represent the nation’s business unless mills and factories and railroads are prosperous. There have been more bull markets with tight money, or with money in the neighborhood of 6 per cent., than in cheap money markets of the sort just described. ”

“ Every trade gets its turn to a certainty. We will say, during a period of prosperity, a general recovery of the sounder stocks to a level at which they yield on the money invested 41⁄2 per cent. per annum, takes two years from the time the advance had fairly set in. During that two years is the bull speculator’s opportunity. If he does not make money then, he never will. Now we come more to the minutiæ: “Any jackass can take a profit, but it requires a devilish clever fellow to cut a loss,” is a well-worn expression in the city of London, but there never was a truer one. ”

“ I've been quietly buying up all his sons and daughters I can lay my hands on. I own 65 daughters and 20-odd sons, so I'd be pretty well fixed for a June sale of sons and daughters of a $50,000 bull. I figure that the advertising a $50,000 buy would give is a big thing. The more I think, the bigger it gets: the highest price the world has ever known for a bull. No other price has even approached that figure. Every big newspaper from New York on west will carry it on the front page, and a picture of Richard and me along with the story. ”