The Ordinary Swing of Prices — During a Cycle of Speculation
Upward Swing
| EXTREME | A long period of backing |
| HIGHEST. | and filling; public buying, |
| 100 | and inside liquidation. |
| 90 | Excitement and inflation |
| 75% of general buying done here. | |
| 80 | Good buying all around. |
| Public interested. | |
| NORMAL | Opinions mixed. Public beginning |
| VALUE. | to buy, but professionals |
| 65 | rather bearish. |
| 45 | Insiders still bidding prices up. |
| Professionals bearish. | |
| 30 | Insiders bidding for stocks, |
| public skeptical. | |
| 20 | A dull market. Insiders |
| EXTREME | accept all offerings. |
| LOWEST. |
DOWNWARD SWING.
| EXTREME | A long period of backing |
| HIGHEST. | and filling; public getting |
| 100 | tired and insiders selling. |
| 90 | Insiders selling. Much bull |
| talk, dividend increases, etc. | |
| Some averaging by people | |
| who loaded up at the top. | |
| 80 | More bull talk. More averaging. |
| Insiders still selling. | |
| NORMAL | Many weak accounts forced out. |
| VALUE. | A temporary halt and probably |
| 65 | a big rally. |
| 45 | Insiders pretty well out. |
| The wise speculative element | |
| consider this the bottom and | |
| load up. | |
| 30 | General blueness and pessimism. |
| 20 | A dull market. Insiders |
| EXTREME | accept all offerings. |
| LOWEST. |
—From Thomas Gibson’s Market Letter,
May 11th, 1907.