Various types of speculators

“Four kinds of speculators operate in the Indian Stock Exchange. They are known as bull, bear, stag and lame duck. A Bull also called as Tejiwala is an operator who is hopeful of price rise in the near future.”

Four kinds of speculators operate in the Indian Stock Exchange. They are known as bull, bear, stag and lame duck. A Bull also called as Tejiwala is an operator who is hopeful of price rise in the near future. In anticipation of price rise he makes purchases of shares and other securities with the intention of selling them at higher prices in future. He being a speculator has no intention of taking delivery of securities but deals only in difference of prices. Such as a speculator is called a Bull because of his resemblance of behaviour with a bull. As a bull is famous for throwing up the opponent in the air, similarly a bull speculator also takes the price of securities high up in the air. He does this by placing high-value purchase orders.

A bear or a Mandiwala on the other hand is a speculator who is wary of fall in prices and hence sells securities so that he may buy them at cheap price in future. A bear does not have securities at present but sells them at higher prices in anticipation that he will supply them business purchasing at lower prices in the future. If the prices move down as per the expectations of the bear he will earn profits out of these transactions. 

Just as a bear presses his victims down to the ground, the bear speculator tends to force down the prices of different securities. It so happens that when bearish operators are bent upon selling securities, the prices also automatically come down. It is a usual practice that a bear is not interested in taking the delivery of securities but he is desirous of getting the variation in prices, provided the prices come down. In case prices rise then he will have to pay the difference between the prices at which he purchased the securities and the prevailing prices on the date of delivery. 

Then comes a stag. A stag is that type of speculator who treads his path very carefully. He applies for shares in new companies and expects to sell them at a premium if he gets an allotment. He selects those companies whose shares are most in demand and are likely to carry a premium. He sells the shares before being called to pay the allotment money. A stag does not indulge in purchase and sale of shares in the market like a bull and a bear. A Lame Duck is nothing but a stressed bear. When a bear finds it difficult to complete his promise he is labeled as a lame duck.