SHORT INTERESTS: TIPS, TRENDS, OBSERVATIONS

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A century ago, mining was the definitive way to riches, especially in Montana.

Marcus Daly amassed his fortune in the copper mines and spent a hefty amount pursuing the gentleman’s pastime of his day — raising thoroughbred horses.

This month, a Westerner who made his bundle in prototypical 1990s-style will begin using 2,600 acres of Mr. Daly’s horse haven in Hamilton, Mont., to promote the hobby of his time — golf.

Discount brokerage king Charles Schwab and two partners are building Stock Farm, a real estate development/country club that will feature an 18-hole course designed by noted golf architect Tom Fazio.

The development will also have hiking and biking trails, a swimming pool, tennis courts and — true to its roots — a horse ranch. The Stock Farm, which has the support of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, also will continue to provide a home for a 500-head elk herd. No word on whether bulls and bears are afforded similar protection.

Testimony of another kind

Some of the country’s most prominent money managers shared stock tips with the public recently as part of a fund-raising effort for kids with cancer.

Michael Price, Mario Gabelli and Bear Stearns & Co. Chairman Ace Greenberg were among the heavyweights helping Tomorrow’s Children’s Fund of Hackensack, N.J., raise more than $300,000.

Also offering suggestions to investors — who had to pony up $1,000 apiece — was John Mulheren, the arbitrageur caught up with Ivan Boesky in the insider trading scandals of the late 1980s. (A conviction against Mr. Mulheren was later reversed.) Currently senior managing director at New York-based Buffalo Partners Inc., he drew guffaws by quipping, “I haven’t spoken to a group this large since I was under oath.” Mr. Mulheren talked up NuCo2 Inc., a Stuart Fla.-based supplier of carbon dioxide for restaurant soda fountains. It’s trading at $11.25 a share.

Weiser vs. Weisenheimer

Irving Weiser or Jerry Seinfeld.

That was the vexing choice confronting attendees May 14 at the Securities Industry Association’s management conference in Chicago.

Mr. Weiser, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based brokerage Dain Rauscher and the association’s chairman, was the featured speaker at the conference dinner. Unfortunately, Mr. Weiser was going head-to-head with the Seinfeld finale.

Fearing the outcome of that contest, association officials had the good sense to assure attendees that Seinfeld would be taped and shown to them once the dinner formalities were completed.