the mention of faro and roulette, which any old-timer will tell you
are easier to beat than the stock market, think they are using
business judgment when they try to make money on stock market
'tips'. Anyone with common sense can see that a 10% margin has no
more chance in an active market than a brush dam in a Johnstown
flood. One of the causes for this kind of speculating on a margin
is that a broker's commission is only 12-1/2 cents per share and it
does not pay to do small-lot business. The one-thousand-dollar
margin would only buy ten shares outright and net the broker but
$1.25 for buying and $1.25 for selling, whereas that same amount as
margin on one hundred shares yields the broker $12.50 each way
besides interest on the balance, the net result being that for any
given amount of money a speculator on 10% margin multiplies his
profits by ten and his losses by ten over those that would occur
were he to buy the stock outright and take it home. The broker on
his side multiplies his commission by ten over what he would receive
were he to do an investment business."

From the above letter you get an idea of the attitude of an employee of
the average broker's office. He would not be considered loyal to his
employer if he had a different attitude. When an attitude like this
influences the broker's market letters, they are not reliable.

You may ask whether there is any reliable information about the market.
Yes, there is. There are several large organizations that make a study
of fundamental statistics and statistics of different companies and give
information to their subscribers based upon this knowledge. We believe
that is the only kind of information that is worth very much to a
trader, except the statistical information--the number of shares sold
and the prices at which they are sold--he gets from his daily or weekly
papers. Some of the principal organizations of this kind are as follows:

_Standard Statistics Company, Inc.
Babson's Statistical Organization.
The Brookmire Economic Service.
Harvard Economic Service.
Poor's Investment Service.
Moody's Investors Service.
Richard D. Wyckoff Analytical Staff._

The above are the principal organizations of this kind. Subscriptions to
their service cost from $85 to $1000 a year. In addition to these there
are a few other organizations besides our own and individuals giving