Speculation is a round game; the players see little or nothing of their cards at first starting; gains may be great - and so may be losses. The run of luck went against Mr. N; a mania prevailed, a bubble burst, four stock brokers took villa residences in Florence, four hundred nobodies were ruined, and among them was Mr. N. -- 1838 -- from a novel -- it also describes an IPO of "a company of national importance" for suckers of those days...