Sales Tax on Stock

The “Wall Street” column on Aug. 7 by John Crudele (“Wall Street Has a Difficult Task Ahead in Luring Back Mom and Pop Investors”) is one of many going like this: The Wall Street gamblers with their computer games have destabilized the stock market and driven out the small investors. Now they learn that the small investors are needed to stabilize the market and keep the brokers in business. What, oh what, is to be done?

It is unthinkable to take away the computer games; the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade agree on that. Then what? They must sweet talk the small investor back into the rigged roulette game.

There is a simple way to stabilize the market for investors, which I hope can get serious consideration from the NYSE or, more likely, from legislators: Impose a stock sales tax or transaction tax on stock sales--say about 0.5% to 1% of the cost of the transaction. This would not add excessively to the fees small investors now pay, and it would take a lot of fun out of the computer gambling games.

Such a tax would, of course, apply to futures as well as stocks.

And I understand the U.S. Treasury could use the money.

DAVID K. BEAVON

Pasadena