Back then, they were known as Salomon Brothers and Huxtler. With the name of Salomon Brothers now back in the news again, this poem sprang back into my mind again, but unfortunately I have forgotten a few stanzas near the end.

This poem was inspired by real events. King Resources was an oil exploration company traded over the counter. When the bid reached 32, Salomon called and said, "I'm a seller." I was the person who picked up the phone and took that call.

In Wall Street parlance, "I'm a seller" means: "I have a virtually unlimited amount of stock to sell." If he had only a thousand to sell, he would simply have said, "I have a thousand for sale." By saying, "I'm a seller" he meant that he had a very large amount of stock for sale, probably at least 50,000 or 100,000 shares. Also, by saying "I'm a seller" he obliges himself to sell you as much as you want to buy. You have the right to say in reply, "I'm buying 29,358 shares of King's Resources stock." He then must sell that amount to you, regardless of whether he actually has the stock or not.

Salomon Brothers really did seem to know what was going to happen in the market, before it happened.

In this actual case, not only was Hayden Stone a market maker of King Resources, but a large portion of the capital of Hayden Stone was in King Resources stock. After Salomon hit the 32 bid, Salomon also hit the 31 bid, the 30 bid, the 29 bid and, over a period of the next several months, hit all the way down to the 2 bid.

As a result, Hayden Stone went bankrupt and out of business, although the Hayden Stone name was sold to Shearson Hammil and survived for several more years. Salomon Brothers remains one of the biggest and most successful securities trading houses on Wall Street.

Sam Sloan

Here is: Salomon Brothers Home Page

Here is a link: How to Take Over an American Public Company