Show SOME THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE TO strengthen METAL MINING STOCKS under the caption of the tool of the stock burglar ralph E pearce president of bryson co stock brokers san francisco makes the following timely and pertinent comment on why mining stocks have fallen into disfavor with speculators and investors in the current issue of mining topics pie he depicts the killing effect of the promulgation and dissemination of rumors also he points out how much of their effect can be eliminated what mr pearce has to say can be read with equal profit by stock brokers andrine and mine operators alike here it is A tool as dangerous to the mine shareholder as anything in the kit of the burglar is the rumor As this is written stockholders are reading of a sudden drop of 36 per cent inthe in the stock of one of the most substantial and conservative silver mining properties in the united states a property that earned net a quarter of a million billion and increased its surplus aper 40 per cent in 1924 A rumor had been started it seems that another company might possibly claim the apex of its ore body the rumor very likely is groundless or if there irany is any foundation form wildly exaggerated but that does not keep it from inflicting damage and loss every active mining enterprise suffers from the malign influence an unfavorable rumor of the rumor starter scares ares some into selling stock the resulting declined decline scares others speculative holders are dunned donned for margins or sold out ut and another black eye is given to the r mining business some no doubt come coin c where do rumors come from as the wi winds i ads come from nowhere in parti particular cula r but the with burglarious burg larous intent majority are arc created deliberately the ne to give up his stock author aims to cause the owner for less than it if is worth when a the is to be especially large rumor crop apt it if bucket buc bucketed jet cd considerable number of orders have been wa alarm is created quotations can be forced below the margin point more margin can be extracted from the buyer or the margins maii gins already paid pocketed at a profit of per cent the normal and legitimate risks of mining are small compared with the illegitimate risk caused by that manipulation of which rumor is the chief instrument the latter risk in in my opinion has done more than anything else to make mining stocks unpopular and drive traders into other kinds of investment the evil of rumor mongering being admitted can anything be done to correct it various plans plan have shave been tried laws have been passed and compa neis have made the experiment of supporting their own stocks in the face of unjustified rumors laws are ineffectual it is well enough to have statutes under which a loser can gain redress when he can prove his case but a rumor Is is suc such h an intangible thing that its origin seldom can be proved referring to the other plan one large company with which I 1 am acquainted amended its charter to gain the right to buy its own shares on the market having a full treasury it has frequently stepped into a falling market purchased large lots of its stock and retired them the market for this issue is very stable bear raiders give it a wide berth and rumor makers do not find it worth while to invent scandals concerning it the plan has worked well in this particular case but I 1 doubt if it could be applied to the general run of mining companies the best remedy it seems to me is the dissemination of facts rumors thrive in doubt and darkness they wither in the sunlight of truth companies that take their stockholders fully into their confidence have little to fear from rumor and gossip frequent reports framed in clealand cle clear arand and simple language and figures are very helpful in creating an atmosphere of faith and loyalty if you are a stockholder in a company following this policy you are loaded with facts that will enable bouto you to disprove most of the derogatory stories that come to your ears cars if something new is brought to your attention you do not rush to your broker and order him to sell your shares you write or telegraph to the office of the company and get the straight of it in the operation of every business displeasing conditions arise arise nerve oftentimes is required to admit the disagreeable facts but even then frankness pays the disagreeable truth always leaks out and usually is magnified as it spreads an honest confession is as good for business as it is for the soul C here let me say a word to the investor it is up to bouto you to gain protection for yourself you can do it by sticking to the companies that deal their cards face up on the table do not let the official announcement of minor difficulties or losses stampede you into selling their securities the fine looking statement odthe of the concern you wish you were ill in may cover weakness far more serious than your own companies I 1 ies reports reveal pan once let the fact be established that investors will not that conceal the things stockholders into enterprises put t money pu should know and frankness will become the rule ale rather than the exception then rumor the accomplice of market manipulation and manipulation itself will lose most of their power for evil other changes in methods are needed to bring the but I 1 with bonafide investors mining I 1 industry into favor think of no one thing that will do more at present to fan can the situ situation atio n than a I 1 policy of 0 frankness tha will improve stockholders iders af all stockholders and operational operation cooperation co deser deserve veth the e confidence large and small 19 |