《股票作手回忆录·第九章·1907大恐慌·做空封神》第7节
I knew that he was supposed to be very clever and always traded on inside news. But how he knew my business so accurately was beyond me. I was sure the office hadn’t given me away. “Ollie, how do you know that?” I asked him. He laughed and told me: “I got it from Charlie Kratzer.” That was the telegraph operator. “But he never budged from his place,” I said. “I couldn’t hear you and him whispering,” he chuckled. “But I heard every word of the message he sent to the New York office for you. I learned telegraphy years ago after I had a big row over a mistake in a message. Since then when I do what you did just now--give an order by word of mouth to an operator--I want to be sure the operator sends the message as I give it to him. I know what he sends in my name. But you will be sorry you sold that Anaconda. It’s going to 500.” “Not this trip, Ollie,” I said. He stared at me and said, “You’re pretty cocky about it.” “Not I; the tape,” I said. There wasn’t any ticker there so there wasn’t any tape. But he knew what I meant.
注释摘要
这一段是一个极为精巧的戏剧性场面，我们需要把它放回到1907年的技术条件与市场文化里去理解。 在棕榈滩那个远程办公室里，没有我们现在习惯的计算机终端或是即时报价屏幕。当时的报价要靠自动收报机，也就是所谓的行情纸带，机械地将纽约交易所的价格一节一节打在半英寸宽的纸带上。而交易指令的下达，则完全依赖摩尔斯电码的专线电报。经纪行里设有电报操作员，他们坐在小隔间或…