《股票作手回忆录·第一章·少年与行情板》第16节
You know, I don’t do things blindly. I don’t like to. I never did. Even as a kid I had to know why I should do certain things. But this time I had no definite reason to give to myself, and yet I was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t stand it. I called to a fellow I knew, Dave Wyman, and said to him: “Dave, you take my place here. I want you to do something for me. Wait a little before you call out the next price of Sugar, will you?” He said he would, and I got up and gave him my place by the ticker so he could call out the prices for the boy. I took my seven Sugar tickets out of my pocket and walked over to the counter, to where the clerk was who marked the tickets when you closed your trades. But I didn’t really know why I should get out of the market, so I just stood there, leaning against the counter, my tickets in my hand so that the clerk couldn’t see them. Pretty soon I heard the clicking of a telegraph instrument and I saw Tom Burnham, the clerk, turn his head quickly and listen. Then I felt that something crooked was hatching, and I decided not to wait any longer. Just then Dave Wyman by the ticker, began: “Su--” and quick as a flash I slapped my tickets on the counter in front of the clerk and yelled, “Close Sugar!” before Dave had finished calling the price. So, of course, the house had to close my Sugar at the last quotation. What Dave called turned out to be 103 again.
注释摘要
这段场景发生在一个典型的投机商号里，也就是当时美国人常说的“bucket shop”。我们必须先弄明白这种地方是怎么一回事，才能看懂拉里·利文斯顿此刻的紧张与决断。在1900年前后的美国，投机商号不是真正的股票交易所，它只是一个让普通人就股票价格涨跌下注的赌场。店里有一台连着电报线的行情机，不断吐出纸带，上面印着纽约证券交易所的实时价格。顾客进去，告诉店员…