Thestockmarketinterestofthosemenwhohavethemanagementofindustrialcorporationsisawideandmultifariousone。Itisnotconfinedtotheprofitablepurchaseandsaleofpropertieswhosemanagementtheymayhaveinhand。Theyarealsointerestedinmakingormarringvariousmovementsofcoalitionorreorganization，andtothisulteriorenditisincumbentonthemto“manipulate“securitieswithaviewtobuyingandsellinginsuchamannerastogaincontrolofcertainlinesofsecurities。24*Henceitisaruleofthisclassofbusinesstraffictocultivateappearance，-toavoid，orsometimestocourt，theappearanceofsin。Sothatunderthisleadershipthecourseofindustrialaffairsis，ingreatmeasure，ifnotaltogether，guidedwithaviewtoaplausibleappearanceofprosperityorofadversity，asthecasemaybe。Undergivencircumstancesitmayaswellbecometheaimofmenincontroltomakeanadverseshowingasafavorableone。Thehigherexigenciesofthecaptainofindustry’spersonalfortunes，asdistinctfromthoseofthecorporationcontrolledbyhim，mayfromtimetotimebebestsewedbyanapparent，ifnotanactual，mismanagementofindustrialaffairs。Aconvincingappearanceofdeclineordisasterwilllowertheputativeearning-capacityoftheconcernbelowitsrealearning-capacityandsowillaffordanadvantageousopportunityforbuyingwithaviewtofutureadvanceorwithaviewtostrategiccontrol。Variousotherexpedientslookingtothelikeoutcomearewellknowntothecraft，besidesbonafidemismanagement。Agivenlineofsecuritiesmaybetemporarilydepressedbylessheroictactics；butthepointinquestionhereisthefactthatunderthissystemofcorporationfinancetheaffairsofthecorporationareingoodpartmanagedfortacticalendswhichareofinteresttothemanagerratherthantothecorporationasagoingconcern。
Whatwassaidinspeakingofcreditextensionwithoutadeterminatetimeinterval25*appliestothisclassofbusiness，withaslightchangeofphrase。Inthishigherdevelopmentofcorporationfinance，inthemanipulationsofvendiblecapital，theintervaloftheturnoverspokenofabovebecomesanindeterminatefactor。Thegainsofthebusinesscometohavebutanuncertainandshiftyrelationtothelapseoftimeandcannotwellbecalculatedpercent。pertime-unit。Thereis，therefore，onthesehigherlevelsofbusinessmanagement，properlyspeakingnoascertainableordinaryrateofearnings。Thecapitalwhichmaybedistinctivelyregardedasoperativeinthebusinessofmanipulation，thevaluableitemsspecificallyemployedinthetrafficinvendiblecorporatecapital，ismadeupoftheoperator’sgood-willandhisfinancialsolvency。Solvencyonalargescaleisrequisitetocarryingontrafficofthisclass，butthecollateralonwhichthisextensivesolvencyconstructivelyrestsistobutapartialextentdrawnintothebusinessasabasisforanactualcreditextension。Whatcountsinthecaseisthesolvencyoftheoperatorratherthananoutrightresorttothecreditextensionwhichthissolvencymightafford。Theworkingcapitalinvolvedinthesetransactionsisaccordinglyofapeculiarlyelusivecharacter，andthetimeelementintheuseofthiscapitalishardtodetermine，ifsuchatimeelementcanproperlybesaidtoenterintothecaseatall。
Moreindetail，thebusinessmaninpursuitofgainalongthislinemust，intheordinarycase，bepossessedoflargeholdingsofproperty，thisbeingthebasisofthesolvencynecessarytothebusiness。Theseholdingsarecommonlyintheformofsecuritiesintheconcernwhosevendiblecapitalisthesubjectofhistraffic，aswellasinothercorporations。Thesesecuritiesrepresentcapital，tangibleandintangible，whichisalreadyemployedintheordinarybusinessoftheconcernbywhichtheyhavebeenissued；thecapital，therefore，isalreadyinusetothefullextentandispresumablyyieldingtheordinaryrateofearnings。Butthesolvencyforwhichtheownershipofthiscapitalaffordsabasismayfurtherbeusefulinenablingtheownertocarryonatrafficinvendiblecorporatecapitalwithoutwithdrawinganyappreciableportionofhisholdingsfromthelucrativeinvestmentsinwhichtheyhavebeenplaced。Inotherwords，heisable，undermoderncircumstances，tomakeasecondaryuseofhisinvestmentsforthepurposeoftradinginvendiblecorporatecapital；butthissecondaryuseofinvestmentsbearsnohardandfastquantitativerelationtotheinvestmentsinquestion，nordoesitinanydeterminatewayinterferewiththeordinaryemploymentofthisinvestedcapitalinthecommonplaceconductofthecorporations’businesstraffic。Thecapitalemployed，aswellasthepotentialcreditextensionwhichitaffordsforthepurposesofthishigherbusinesstraffic，isthereforeinapeculiardegreeintangible，and，inrespectofitsamount，highlyelusive。
Muchthesameistrueofthegood-willemployedinthistraffic。Itisalsoingoodpartgood-willwhichalreadyservesthepurposesofthecommonplacebusinesstrafficofthecorporationsonwhosesecuritiesthebusinessmaninquestionrestshissolvency。Sothatinthishigherbusinesstrafficthegood-willengagedisalsohereturnedtoasecondaryuse。Thebusinesseconomieswhichareinthiswaymadepracticablebyareduplicationofusesandmadetoinuretothegreaterbusinessmen’sprofitareofgreatmagnitude；butthemagnificentadditionswhichareinthiswaymadetothebusinesscommunity’scapitalizableforcesneedscarcelybedweltonhere。
Theelusiveandflexuouscharacteroftheelementsofwealthengaged，aswellastheabsenceofanascertainableordinaryrateofearningsinthislineofbusiness，hasledeconomiststospeakofthistrafficinvendiblecapitalasa“speculative“