MARKETS: Six-Share Investors

A favorite Wall Street notion is that traders in odd lots (less than 100 shares of stock) are always wrong—when they buy, the market goes down; when they sell, it goes up. Last week the first comprehensive survey of odd-lot trading—made by the Brookings Institution under the direction of Dr. Charles 0. Hardy—found that odd-lotters are generally smart enough to buy on declines and sell on advances, but not smart enough to wait for a marked decline or a substantial advance. By buying and selling too soon, they miss the boat on long-term price trends. Other findings: > Since 1920 the average odd-lot trader has bought 106 shares, sold 100, thus accumulated six shares.

> Since 1920 the average odd-lotter on monthly balances has sold his stocks about 14% under the price he paid for them.

> In 1929 the big three dealers* who do 97% of the New York Stock Exchange odd-lot business bought 140,000,000 odd-lot shares, sold 156,000,000. In 1938 they bought 49,000,000, sold 50,000,000—16.1% of the round-lot volume.