The Psychology of Speculation by Henry Howard Harper

It has been wisely observed by one who is more famous for the wisdom of / his writings than for the amount of money he has made in speculation, / that when a market reaches the top there is no visible sign to indicate / it; that on the contrary, at this critical point, everything seems to / indicate much higher prices. Also the majority of traders, tipsters, / financial editors, and even the brokers themselves, are apt to be most / bearishly disposed when the market is at its lowest point. This same / authority declares that when the "cats and dogs," that is, the poorest / and most neglected stocks in the list, begin to advance it is time / for holders of securities to cash in their profits. It might be further / observed that when plums get ripe and the melon season is on, it is a / sure indication that summer is well advanced; likewise when, after a / long season of bullish anticipation, the stock market "plums" are being / distributed, and the "melon-cutting" process is in full swing -- when the / favorite "mystery" stocks have disgorged their "hidden assets," and / begin to sell ex-rights, ex-dividend, ex-merger and ex-mystery, it is a / pretty sure sign that the "bulls" are running short of provender, and / that the "bears" are about due for their inning. A man who accumulates / large paper profits in speculation and fails to "cash in" until a large / part, or all, of his gains have been dissipated in the process of / deflation which inevitably follows every boom, is comparable to one who / plants a field of grain and refuses to harvest it at maturity, hoping / that the ripened kernels will get a little larger. Many a speculator / has been brought to grief by an insatiate greed for that coveted / topmost point, instead of being content to sell at a good profit and / leave the possibility of a small gain to the individual who buys his / stock.