Livermore's Doubts

Mr. Jesse Livermore, young man with light hair, big back head and solemn face, knows more about stocks and such things than all others put together. So it is said. He sells or buys tens of thousands of shares at a time, and thousands follow when he says, "Buy" or "Sell."--ARTHUR BRISBANE.

Wall Street last week gave an exhibition of mysteries second only to the oil scandal in Washington, and in fact caused by it. The stock market had advanced steadily if irregularity for many weeks, and had become overbought and top-heavy. At such times, any incident is enough to cause an upset.

At this stage, enter Mr. Livermore, the noted operator. His last two main prophecies on the stock market had been sufficiently fulfilled so that he had attracted a considerable speculative following. From his vantage point in Miami, he sent a statement to the press which was widely published, although the Wall Street Journal refused to in-clude it in its columns. Mr. Livermore declared that the oil scandal had undermined confidence in the stock market, and rendered doubtful the presidential nominations. "I think it is very foolish trying to be an optimist in the stock market at the present time," he added. The effect of his pronouncement on the stock prices was electrical. In a single day, Fisher Body fell 13 points, General Electric 8 1/8, Du Pont 7 1/2, Baldwin 6, American Can 5, National Lead 8, Houston Oil 7 1/2, U. S. Steel 3 1/8, Studebaker 3 1/4, the entire list with hardly an exception declined.

Flattering as such results may have proved to Mr. Livermore, the real cause of the sudden decline was undoubtedly the "technical position" of the market. After all Mr. Livermore is a better judge of the stock market than of national affairs. This was shown when he advocated more business men in our government, only to meet Senator Lenroot's retort that there had been several prominent business men rather too much mixed up in government affairs lately.