The Psychology of Speculation. English-only reading by default; switch among English, Chinese, and Spanish, or compare languages side by side.
This chapter examines THE PERILS OF OVER-ACQUISITIVENESS—THE HUMAN ELEMENT IN SPECULATION, using the author’s early-twentieth-century investment framework to explain how investors were expected to judge security quality, income, risk, and market conditions. It opens from the chapter’s own discussion: Reverting again to the characteristic bent of speculators who trade on the constructive side of the market, some years ago a man of my acquaintance bought a hundred shares of Union Pacific at $120 a share, just for “a turn of a few points,” as he expressed it. Within a few days he sold it at $125, making a net gain of $500, less commission,—equal to more than five years’ interest at six per cent. on the $1500 he put
Readers studying financial history, investment education, and the chapter’s specific subject—sold out bull, over-acquisitiveness, optional orders—will get the most from this section. It is not suitable as a modern trading or investment checklist.
Read this chapter as historical investment education. The market rules, disclosure practices, securities, commissions, interest-rate conditions, and investor protections around sold out bull, over-acquisitiveness, optional orders may differ sharply from modern markets.