ADVISE FROM BROKERAGE HOUSES

Probably the largest volume of information and advice to the security-owning public comes from stockbrokers . These are members of the stock exchanges who execute buying and selling orders for a standard commission . Practically all the houses that deal with the public maintain a statistical or analytical department , which answers inquiries and makes recommendations . A great deal of analytical literature , some of it elaborate and expensive , is distributed gratis to the firms customers more impressively referred to as clients . 

A great deal is at stake in the innocent appearing question whether customers or clients is the more appropriate name . A business has customers , a professional person or organisation has clients . The brokerage fraternity has probably the highest ethical standards of any business , but it still feeling its way toward the standards and standing of a true profession .

It has been logically impossible for brokerage houses to operate on a thoroughly professional basis . To do that would have required them to direct their efforts toward reducing rather than increasing their business . The farthest that certain brokerage houses have gone in that direction and could have been expected to go is to refrain from inducing or encouraging anyone to speculate . Such houses have confined themselves to executing orders given them to supplying financial information and analyses and o rendering opinions on the investment merits of securities . Thus in theory at least they are devoid of all responsibility for either the profits or the losses of their speculative customers . 

Most stock exchange houses however still adhere to the old time slogans that they are in business to make commissions and that the way to succeed in business is to give the customers what they want . Since the most profitable customers want speculative advice and suggestions , the thinking and activities of the typical firm are pretty closely geared to day-to-day trading in the market. Thus it tries hard to help its customers make money in a field where they are condemned almost by mathematical law to lose in the end . By this I mean that the speculative part of their operations cannot be profitable over the long run for most brokerage house customers . But to the extent that their operations resemble true investing they may produce investment gains that more than offset the speculative losses . 

The investor obtains advice and information from stock exchange houses through two types of employees now known officially as customers brokers or account executives and financial analysts . The customer's broker also called a registered representative , formerly bore the most part an individual of good character and considerable knowledge of securities who operates under a rigid code of right conduct . 

Nevertheless since his business is to earn commissions , he can hardly avoid being influenced by speculative considerations till will ordinarily have to be careful and explicit in his dealing with his customer's broker ; he will have to show clearly by word and deed that he is not interested in anything faintly resembling a stock market tips . Once the customer's broker understands clearly that he has a real investor on his hands , he will respect this point of view and cooperate with it . 


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