 To finance the scheme , Otto , Augustus and Charles Morse met with Charles T. Barney , president of the city 's third @-@ largest trust , the Knickerbocker Trust Company . Barney had provided financing for previous Morse schemes . Morse , however , cautioned Otto that he needed much more money than he had to attempt the squeeze and Barney declined to provide funding . Otto decided to attempt the corner anyway . On Monday , October 14 , he began aggressively purchasing shares of United Copper , which rose in one day from $ 39 to $ 52 per share . On Tuesday ( Oct. 15 ) , he issued the call for short sellers to return the borrowed stock . The share price rose to nearly $ 60 , but the short sellers were able to find plenty of United Copper shares from sources other than the Heinzes . Otto had misread the market , and the share price of United Copper began to collapse . 
