The Speculator

Three weeks ago, in a small effusion meant to buck up public confidence in the economy, President Nixon told a group of businessmen: "Frankly if I had any money, I'd be buying stocks right now."

The President was talking, of course, about a long-term investment. But if he had invested, say, $10,000 of his money in stocks the day he spoke, then by Thursday of last week, calculating on the basis of the value of an average share on the New York Stock Exchange, he would have been $617 poorer. Such are the vagaries of the market, however, that after the next day's rally, he would have regained $177, but still have been down $440.

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