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.