RUBBER BOOM.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVII, Issue LVII, 9 April 1910, Page 6

RUBBER BOOM.

LARGE FORTUNES BEING MADE IN LONDON. '

RUSH FOR SHARES.

Even the most staid authorities say that' they see no signs yet of _ any real abatement in the great boom in rubber shares at present prevailing in the Stock Exchange. Tliere may be periods of fatigue, there may be periods ot reaction in prices due to pront-takmg, but the gamble among professional speculators goes on, tlie public has got the bit between its teeth, and the result is a boom the like- of which has seldom been seen in the annals of the Stook Exchange. . The cause is the awakening of the public to the fact that rubber "can be cultivated with enormous profit on plantations in various parts of the world — in Malay and Ceylon, for instance— whereas it has hitherto been obtained from the wild forests of Brazil. NIGHT AND DAY CLERKS. Each day the market for the shares in the Stock Exchange presents a babel of riotous confusion. The space allotted to it is about forty feet square, and as it is in one of the oldest parts of the House the roof is exceedingly low, which fact renders the fray all the more uncomfortable. To this limited space more jobbers flock from other and quieter markets day after day, adding to the confusion by participating in the business and profiting by the rise in the price of the shares, which proceeds on an enormous scale. Such chaos prevails that brokers are sometimes able to buy shares from one jobber and sell them at a considerable profit to another who is simultaneously quoting a higher price. The nerve strain on the members a>nd their clerks is, of coursej severe. Some of the clerks have now lived in the City for weeks, going home only from Saturday to Monday. Tliere is, of course, the consolation ot big bonuses, for the firms which are making money can afford to pay. At least two firms are mentioned whose profits from the boom are believed to amount to over £100,000, and scores of smaller men. are making more than they ever made in their lives before. SHOALS OF NEW COMPANIES. As to the public demand for rubber shares, it is overwhelming. People who cannot afford more are buying shares by fiVes and tens; the clergyman and the widow are always to the fore in gambles of this kind. Many brokers now refuse to advise the , purchase of any particular share, even though that means loss of business. They frankly confess that they do not even recognise the weird names, much less the nature of the companies whose shares thenclients are often anxious to buy. People •who bought rubber shares months ago and who made handsome profits by selling them are now buying them again at about double ( the former price. . Shoals of now companies are being floated to share in the profits. In almost every case the list of subscriptions has to be closed before the advertised time, so huge is the rush to subscribe. .. . .-, , How prices have risen since the beginning of the year may be indicated by a few examples. 'The premium on Rubber Trust shares, for instance, has more than trebled, rising from 12s to 39s 6d; Straits Bertam shares have risen 32s 9d from 37s 3d to 70s; Vallambrosa Option Certificates have near]v trebled in value, rising from 11s 3d to 31s fid. Other well-known shares are Bukit Rajahj which have risen 3| from 8£ to 124; Consolidated Malay, 25 from 6f to 9£ ; and Highlands, which have risen If from 3| to s|. . The price of the raw material— that is," of fine plantation rubber, is now about 9s a pound, compared with about 555 5 6d at this time last year.-^Daily Mail.