Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 October 8

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October 8

Here kitty kitty?

[1] What is this thing? I can't tell the size from the pic, but it looks like I should be scared of it. Thanks. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 11:13, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

Looks like a lynx. --Wrongfilter (talk) 11:31, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

Bobcat. High maintenance when kept as pets. fiveby(zero) 11:44, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, the tufted ears are characteristic of lynxes, and a bobcat is a type of lynx. (Of course, other types of bobcat also exist.) --184.144.99.72 (talk) 22:53, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

You are very wise to be leery, Timothy. [old joke] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:59, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

Stock purchasing

A broker giving an order to purchase stocks at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, 1989.

The English description for this file is:

A broker giving an order to purchase stocks at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

I understand that when this photo was taken, 1989, there where no stock exchange software available as there are today so stock purchasing was generally done in stock exchange markets or by phone/fax, but still, why was the order given near other people which might represent other companies (rival to the company that employed that broker)?

Talking about "human nature", the decision of a company to buy stocks is something that the company has an interest to keep private (as with any other investment or as with developing a new product), ain't it? So, why near other people?

Thanks, 49.230.63.69 (talk) 15:13, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

When you're buying/selling small amounts of stock online you might get the idea that it's a private thing, like buying a book off amazon, and the stocks just come out thin air as needed. But it's not really like that.

If that guy is on the floor of the stock exchange, he's buying and selling massive amounts of stocks. The people he's buying and selling them FROM are probably in that room with him. I'm sure he has private conversations with his partners and customers about his upcoming plans, but when he makes a purchase, he has to publicly say how much he's willing to pay and find someone who's willing to sell for that amount.

(Of course, he's just a broker. If secrecy is important to his clients, he might do whatever is legally possible to hide who he's working for.) 73.60.61.24 (talk) 16:55, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

See also open outcry. DuncanHill (talk) 22:57, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

If you're buying or selling small amounts of stock, you likely deal with a market maker who directly or indirectly has someone working on the trading floor, but who holds some stocks in inventory to service retail customers, like a hardware store would have some hammers in stock. The stock exchange itself is a continuous auction which means the trade prices are always public. In principle you can also do private transactions (away from the exchange) without disclosing the price, but unless in a large deal such as a takeover, it would be silly for the transaction to not be at or near the publicly known market price (you wouldn't want to pay more than that, and the seller wouldn't want to sell for less). 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 02:04, 9 October 2021 (UTC)