Chapter XXI Summary and Analysis

Livingston is hired to assist the owners of Imperial Steel make its stock more active and sell their interest in it at prices better than they can obtain on the general market. This is a sound company but one whose stock has never been especially interesting. Trying to just sell large amounts of stock will naturally make the price drop, and there might not be any buyers for it. However, there is nothing wrong with the company that prevents Livingston from marketing it, so he accepts a contingent fee of one hundred thousand shares, which will only bring him profits if he succeeds in the task.

Livingston starts by buying whatever of the company's stock is currently available on the market at or above the current price. The overall market is rising, so it is not difficult to create...