It was Monday, Stocks of United Copper Co. quietly increased in value from $39 to as high as $60. Otto Heinze’ order instructions were to purchase 100 shares in increments until it reaches $49, and then lots of 1,000 shares thereafter. The stock has risen over $23 with over 4,000 shares traded by the end of the trading day. The next day, aside from that huge surge of buy orders, stocks of United Copper Co. still continued to decline as if there was an invisible force springing it back down to the ground. By the end of the day it settled back down to 52.

On the other hand, the stock certificates arrived at the offices of Otto Heinze and Co., Otto Heinze has until 14:00 that day to pay the obligation. The Heinzes took out a loan to cover the remaining checks written against their brokerage. With all the short sellers looking at all places to cover their shorts, Otto Heinze has set the stage for the final step on his plan. He called all the shares they own the next day, hoping that the price would shoot skywards as brokerages look for their short clients to finally cover the stock they borrowed. Instead, a different scene unfolded. To his surprise, all 20 brokers produced the stock that had been called. Nobody defaulted, and it exposed that shares of United Copper co. were abundant in the market. Heinze was eventually forced to refuse payment for the declining stock. The brokerages meanwhile were forced to dump the undeliverable flood of stock certificates into the market, offering them at any price to cover. The attempt to corner the stock of United Copper failed. Prices continued to slide from $50 a share to 40 and finally, the common stock of United Copper settled at $10. There were no bids.

There were many casualties caused by this corner attempt. Brokerage such as Gross and Kleeberg, who spent around $300,000 to purchase the stocks ordered by Heinze, were forced to sell it at a price as low as $10 to cover their losses. Eventually, the exchange suspended Otto Heinze & Company. Heinze offered to pay Gross & Kleeberg a third of its total indebtedness, but the offer came too late. Banks holding United Copper Company stocks as collateral to loans soon failed like falling dominoes. The bank failure triggered major runs to other banks that were remotely affected by this ordeal. Depositors rushed as they try to withdraw their deposits on fears that their bank may soon follow the series of failure. This failed corner attempt prompted the major banking panic in 1907. This collective lesson later set the stage for the establishment of a central bank, as well as the separation of investment houses such as Trust funds from consumer banks.

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