BEARS CAUGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 121, 18 November 1931, Page 12

BEARS CAUGHT

PAYING FOR PESSIMISM

SYDNEY SHARE MARKET

(From ?'The Post's" Representative.)

SYDNEY, 13th November

The remarkable advances that have been .made during the past week'or so by dozens of shares listed on the Sydney and, sMelbourne Stock Exchanges have caught many brokers unprepared, and they are'now paying dearly for their failure to judge correctly: the trend of events. For many months the "bears" have been lnig-ging-the- Stock Exchanges, but now, in their turn, they are being squeezed. Many of them have been caught short on booked transactions; in other words, they have been unable promptly to supply scrip which they had contracted to sell at a price.: for, "lortoard" 'delivery. Purchases made" against ffienTTor the fulfilling ot such orders are stated to have r,un >mto scores of thousands of pounds. It is .not possible to state the exact amount, for those who are caught in such-a jamare always ' disinclined to call fronv the'housetops the story'of"their reverse.' Sagging markets such as have been experienced afforded exactly, the ground upon which the speculative forward seller of scrip'tlirives. Obsessed by a premonition that the "bottom was falling out of Australia," some of the so-called bears continued to trade ahead. with recklessness. They-banked on continued declines, in market prices, of favourite and other securities; and those- -wko persisted in their folly are now lamenting. They refused to' read the writing.. on the wall when, to the sane\interpreter of events, markets "appeared tcMiave reached bedrock. They refused to heed the warnings of the justifiably optimistic group, and now they have to pay up and look as pleasant as possible; ■ During-the past'two or three weeks there has been extreme activity on the Exchanges, and/ shares of all sorts, particularly those-^concerned with pastoral companies; and some of the more import-ant-industrial concerns, have shown a steady increases The value of some of the shares-"this week is four, five, and even six times what it was a fortnight ago, indicating that there is a, very definite view that 'Australia has turned the corner.. Transactions reported by the Sydney Exchange .on Tuesday last showed a turnover which approached record dimensions. It was one of the heaviest days for 'over two years. Buying strength, which has been growing for some time, received added stimulus from the further advance in wool values, rising wheat prices, and the (sharp appreciation hi metal quotations. There was further reason for optimism when'the Prime Minister announced that within the pasfc six weeks Australian stocks in London had appreciated invalue'by more than £100,000,000 —an increase of 23 per cent.