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.But theavailable data is highly suggestive.Many corporations responded to the survey with more or less detail,which makes it diffi cult to classify the information, but one can identify three broad categories.Some companies provided very specifi c information, forvarying years, on the distribution of shares (one to fi ve shares, six to ten, etc.), sometimes by type (common and preferred) and sometimes in the aggregate.A larger number simply provided the average number of shares owned byeach shareholder.A signifi cant number of companies also provided infor-mation on the extent of their shares owned by women and foreigners.Inaddition to this raw data, there is a compilation in the NCF fi les of seventy-fi ve of the responding corporations’ average holdings in 1901, 1906 and 1913.Presumably those included were the only corporations in the survey that hadremained in continual existence during that period.Taken together, the information in the NCF archives permits modestbut telling claims about the distribution of shareholdings in terms of thesize of blocks owned, the growth of small investors and the increasing trendtoward speculation by means of common stock ownership.Several respon-dents themselves expressly noted increases in small shareholdings, greaterdistribution of their shares, the extent of duplication and the extent of insti-tutional ownership.The data show a signifi cant spread in share ownership across the popula-tion from the turn of the century on, both directly, in holdings of less thanone hundred shares, and indirectly in the form of increased stock ownershipby insurance companies and savings banks.Large holdings (over one thou-sand shares) were very small proportions of almost every company’s stock-holdings.The compiled data show an increase in the number of sharehold-ers from 140,072 in 1901 to 197,264 in 1906 to 414,945 in 1913, or 41 percent• 202 •The Speculation Economybetween 1901 and 1906 and 110 percent between 1906 and 1913, with anoverall increase of almost 200 percent during the period.Some of the morepronounced leaps included U.S.Steel, whose shareholders increased from32,000 to 125,000; General Electric, from 2,900 to 10,450; and AmericanTelephone & Telegraph, from 8,143 to 53,737.It is particularly striking to see the extent of growth from 1906 on, both because the period encompassedthe highly disruptive Panic of 1907 and its aftermath and because most ofthe period from 1910 to 1914 was one long fl at market underscored by broadeconomic stagnation.The raw data demonstrate the increased popularity of common stockas an investment vehicle, with signifi cant amounts of small holdings as wellas increased amounts of outstanding common stock for almost every cor-poration.Consolidated Gas of Baltimore went from 6.3 million shares ofpreferred in 1906 to 4.1 million in 1914, a period during which its commonshares went from 6.3 million to 11.4 million with only a modest increase inpar value.(The company did not provide a breakdown of its capitalizationbetween the common and preferred.) Holding capitalization almost con-stant, the Chicago & Alton Railroad saw the number of its preferred share-holders rise from 314 in 1906 to 408 in 1914, while the number of commonshareholders went from 219 to 671.Companies like Borden’s CondensedMilk, Eastman Kodak, Federal Light & Traction, General Motors, Proctor& Gamble, Seaboard Air Line Railroad and Southern California Edison allhad more common than preferred shares and, typically, shareholders.Somecompanies, like The Texas Company and The Silversmiths Company, hadonly common stock outstanding.Even in the fl at years of 1910 to 1914, com-mon stock was becoming the game.Interestingly, the data also show the very strong presence of women in-vestors, both in common stocks of speculative companies and as investorsmore generally.Women’s ownership ranged from 25 percent to over 40 per-cent in virtually every company reporting such statistics including GeneralMotors, B.F.Goodrich, Borden’s Condensed Milk Co.and National CarbonCompany, except in cases like American Locomotive Company, where theyowned a majority of the preferred stock, and American Express Companyand the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Co., where they owned anoutright majority of all stock.One can tentatively conclude that speculationof the new type had begun to become part of the culture of small investors [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.But theavailable data is highly suggestive.Many corporations responded to the survey with more or less detail,which makes it diffi cult to classify the information, but one can identify three broad categories.Some companies provided very specifi c information, forvarying years, on the distribution of shares (one to fi ve shares, six to ten, etc.), sometimes by type (common and preferred) and sometimes in the aggregate.A larger number simply provided the average number of shares owned byeach shareholder.A signifi cant number of companies also provided infor-mation on the extent of their shares owned by women and foreigners.Inaddition to this raw data, there is a compilation in the NCF fi les of seventy-fi ve of the responding corporations’ average holdings in 1901, 1906 and 1913.Presumably those included were the only corporations in the survey that hadremained in continual existence during that period.Taken together, the information in the NCF archives permits modestbut telling claims about the distribution of shareholdings in terms of thesize of blocks owned, the growth of small investors and the increasing trendtoward speculation by means of common stock ownership.Several respon-dents themselves expressly noted increases in small shareholdings, greaterdistribution of their shares, the extent of duplication and the extent of insti-tutional ownership.The data show a signifi cant spread in share ownership across the popula-tion from the turn of the century on, both directly, in holdings of less thanone hundred shares, and indirectly in the form of increased stock ownershipby insurance companies and savings banks.Large holdings (over one thou-sand shares) were very small proportions of almost every company’s stock-holdings.The compiled data show an increase in the number of sharehold-ers from 140,072 in 1901 to 197,264 in 1906 to 414,945 in 1913, or 41 percent• 202 •The Speculation Economybetween 1901 and 1906 and 110 percent between 1906 and 1913, with anoverall increase of almost 200 percent during the period.Some of the morepronounced leaps included U.S.Steel, whose shareholders increased from32,000 to 125,000; General Electric, from 2,900 to 10,450; and AmericanTelephone & Telegraph, from 8,143 to 53,737.It is particularly striking to see the extent of growth from 1906 on, both because the period encompassedthe highly disruptive Panic of 1907 and its aftermath and because most ofthe period from 1910 to 1914 was one long fl at market underscored by broadeconomic stagnation.The raw data demonstrate the increased popularity of common stockas an investment vehicle, with signifi cant amounts of small holdings as wellas increased amounts of outstanding common stock for almost every cor-poration.Consolidated Gas of Baltimore went from 6.3 million shares ofpreferred in 1906 to 4.1 million in 1914, a period during which its commonshares went from 6.3 million to 11.4 million with only a modest increase inpar value.(The company did not provide a breakdown of its capitalizationbetween the common and preferred.) Holding capitalization almost con-stant, the Chicago & Alton Railroad saw the number of its preferred share-holders rise from 314 in 1906 to 408 in 1914, while the number of commonshareholders went from 219 to 671.Companies like Borden’s CondensedMilk, Eastman Kodak, Federal Light & Traction, General Motors, Proctor& Gamble, Seaboard Air Line Railroad and Southern California Edison allhad more common than preferred shares and, typically, shareholders.Somecompanies, like The Texas Company and The Silversmiths Company, hadonly common stock outstanding.Even in the fl at years of 1910 to 1914, com-mon stock was becoming the game.Interestingly, the data also show the very strong presence of women in-vestors, both in common stocks of speculative companies and as investorsmore generally.Women’s ownership ranged from 25 percent to over 40 per-cent in virtually every company reporting such statistics including GeneralMotors, B.F.Goodrich, Borden’s Condensed Milk Co.and National CarbonCompany, except in cases like American Locomotive Company, where theyowned a majority of the preferred stock, and American Express Companyand the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Co., where they owned anoutright majority of all stock.One can tentatively conclude that speculationof the new type had begun to become part of the culture of small investors [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]