BUCKEBURG, town, north-west Germany, capital of the Land of Schaumburg-Lippe, 6m. east of Minden. Pop. (1933) 6,923. It arose around the castle in the 14th century, but was not walled until the 17th century. A ring of promenades has since replaced the walls.
a term applied to the "business" of a sham stock-broker who does not deal in securities, but who con ducts a gambling office in which, in effect, he bets with his clients upon unfair terms. His usual method is to encourage speculators to gamble for a rise in price which he confidently predicts to them, promising large profits quickly harvested. No "buying" is done, and the bucket-shop keeper carefully guards himself from stating in direct terms that he has bought. He asks for a margin or "cover" from his client, and makes great play with the statement that not more than the cover can be lost. As this cover amounts to little, if anything, more than the difference between the buying and selling prices of the stock or share gambled in, the unfortunate speculator often loses his bet as soon as he makes it. The bucket shop keeper sometimes opens his dealings, however, by sending a small cheque to the speculator for pretended winnings to induce him to plunge more deeply in a further deal.
The bucket-shop keeper carefully words his order-forms to avoid the meshes of the law. Thus, in an actual case, the circular inviting to a gamble in a certain industrial share included an order form running as follows : "I hereby instruct you to open on my account . . . shares and enclose £ . . . being is. per share deposit, which is my sole liability on this transaction." The cover of one shilling per share in this case is the difference between the buying and selling price of the share, so that the deposit is run off upon the signing of the form.
It is quite unfair to apply the term "bucket-shop" to the busi ness of every stock-broker who is not a member of an official stock-exchange, for there are perfectly honest "outside" stock brokers who conduct a legitimate business.
The origin of the term is American. According to the New English Dictionary, it is supposed to have arisen in Chicago. The Board of Trade there forbade dealings in "options" in grain of less than 5,000 bushels. An "Open Board of Trade" or unauthor ized exchange was established for the . use of small gamblers, in a neighbouring street below the rooms of the Board of Trade. The lift used by members of the Board of Trade would be sent down to bring up from the "Open Board" what was known as a "bucketful" of the smaller speculators when business was slack.