The Jobbing System of the London Stock Exchange: An Oral History
Ref.No.: 30	Playback No.:

Interviewee's surname: Moy	Title: Mr
Interviewee's forenames: Geoffrey
Date of birth:   20 March 1922	Sex: Male

Date(s) of recording: 18 June 1990
Location of interview: institute of Historical Research
Name of interviewer:  Bernard Attard
Type of recorder:  Marantz CP 430
Total no. of tapes:     2    Speed:
Type of tape:   TDK AR 60     Noise reduction:   DBX
Mono or stereo:  stereo      Original or copy:  Copy
Additional material: Copyright/Clearance: CMH; no restrictions

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Tape 1, Side 1

Birth in Streatham in 1921; father a jobber; uncle with a broking firm; father starts jobbing firm Robert Moy & Co, dealing in rubber market; association with broker Zorn & Leigh-Hunt in bringing rubber companies to the market; father's career; grandparents; careers pursued by Geoffrey Moy's brothers; educated at Stowe; always felt he might go into the Stock Exchange; reasons for father dealing in rubber shares; Stock Exchange able to provide father with a good living; qualities required to be a jobber; ambition to be an architect; unable to pursue this because of the war; joins Moy & Co in 1947; firm able to survive war because of low overheads; description of firm; reasons for joining C.D. Clark in 1959; firm also dealing in industrial shares; father knew the directors or was asked to deal in the shares; first jobs; father always encouraging him to find another job; first impressions of the Stock Exchange; low level of business in the early '50s; how kept occupied on a dull day; brokers who specialised in rubber stocks; becomes authorised; describes the pitch, which straddles the industrial and rubber markets; other jobbers in the rubber market; jobbers who enter the market during boom periods; dealing during boom periods; possibility of making the wrong price and complaints from brokers; the jobber's board.

Tape 1, side 2

The way a jobber used his board to conceal his price; possibility of making a mistake; how learnt jobbing skills; jobber with Frisby who 'was exceptionally hot'; factors which would make you unfriendly towards a broker; example of the way a jobber could exploit a broker; open bidding and offering; father would bid up shares for fun; development of the rubber market through 1950s and early 1960s; the shops; rubber a market in which one should always be a bull; example of a takeover situation when was caught short of stock; tipping; merges with C.D. Clark in 1959; joins Frisby in 1967; joins Smith Brothers 1968; Frisby cease jobbing because of lack of funds; boom in rubber shares 1968 to 1982; other jobbers in the rubber market; description of Smith; increasing amount of capital available for rubber book; importance of being conscious of capital; attitude to capital in Moy & Co.

Tape 2, side 1

Approach to controlling the book in Moy & Co; Smiths are forceful, aggressive jobbers; example of how to be pleasant or unpleasant to a broker while dealing; rubber shares increasingly acquired by interests in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore; effect on liquidity; importance of position taking to a jobber; remains on rubber book with Smith; opposition jobber at Pinchin; competitiveness of the market; absence of a market outside the Stock Exchange; put throughs; reasons why there was no market outside the Stock Exchange; value of contacts with company directors; jobbers as a source of information; amount of capital allowed by Smith; retirement from jobbing; jobbing had not changed during career; market makers not prepared to take risks post-Big Bang; change associated with the building of the new Stock Exchange; 1974 recession; cycles in Stock Exchange activity; jobbing a risky profession; would not have chosen to be a jobber again; trading on personal account - mainly done by brokers.

Tape 2, side 2

A jobber trading on personal account would have to do it through a broker; Geoffrey Moy does not really invest in shares; strength of jobbing system is that it always provides a market and a buffer; feelings about abolition of single capacity; weakness of old system that it was a closed job; retirement from Smiths; would not have considered taking up another career, particularly after joining Smith Brothers.