STOCK EXCHANGE TERMS. The stock exchange has a dialect or slang of its own, many of the terms in which had their origin at the time of the South Sea speculation in 1720. A 'bull' is a buyer of stocks which he hopes to sell at higher prices. He may buy altogether with his own capital; but if he is merely a stock exchange speculator, he borrows most of the requisite funds, depositing the purchased stock as security. He can usually ,borrow 80 per cent. of the cost value of his shares the difference. 20 per cent., being his 'margin.' If the price falls. the lender calls on him to 'make good his margin.' If he fails to do so, and the margin continues 'im paired,' be is 'closed out' by the sale of his col lateral. A 'boom' is a successful upward move ment of prices: this term is of American origin. The opposite of a 'boom.' in stock exchange phraseology, is a 'slump.' The 'bear' is a seller of stocks which he hopes to obtain, later on, at lower prices. He may be selling his own holdings and delivering them to the purchaser. But if a speculator, he may borrow stocks as the 'bull' borrows money. Generally he obtains the stocks by lending their equivalent in money to the owner. He is said to be 'short' of stocks, where the bull is 'long.' The bull 'realizes' when he sells to take his profits; similarly, the bear 'covers' when he buys on the market the stock in which he has been speculating, and re turns the shares which he has borrowed. Stocks
are said to be 'carried' when they are accepted as security from a bull speculator. A 'manipu lated' market is one in which speculators have caused an artificial appearance of real buying or selling. A 'rigged' market is much the same thing, though in a more intensified form. 'Puts' are contracts sold at a fixed percentage by capitalists to bull speculators, whereby the capi talist undertakes to pay a set price for a given number of shares within a stipulated time. This insures the speculator against more than a cer tain amount of loss if he buys stocks. 'Calls' are contracts similarly sold by capitalists, who agree within a given time, and at a set price, to deliver the shares agreed upon to the speculator. This is a guarantee against losses on a falling market. Both sorts of contracts are classified as 'privileges.' 'Wash sales' are transactions in which buyer and seller are by the same person, with a view to creating a semblance of activity. They are prohibited under severe pen alties by the stock exchanges. but are rarely detected and are very frequently utilized.