On Selling Short

Oh, roller-skating is exciting,
   and so are volcanoes too.
And a good old-fashioned blizzard
   will put you in a stew;
But of all exciting pastimes,
   or any kind of sport,
There's nothing quite so thrilling
   As the game of Selling Short.

It isn't merely selling
   something which you have got;
It's much more complicated -
   You sell what you have NOT.
And the thing that makes exciting
   (if you don't believe me - try it)
Is that after you have sold it
   You have simply GOT TO buy it.

And so, when you go to buy it,
   If you have to pay the price
Higher than what you sold it for -
   That isn't quite so nice.
And the market is most disobliging -
   Though no one seems to know why -
For it's always down when you HAVE to sell,
   And it's up when you HAVE to buy.

(From Sophronia Tibbs "Stock Market Quotations", published 1926 by John Day & Co.)