midday
His object was to speculate ; `` and this was to be done , '' he said , `` at an early hour of the day . '' `` The Spanish proverb , '' he was wont to say , `` which regulates the eating of oranges , is not a bad rule to govern a man in making his speculations . Speculations -LRB- oranges -RRB- are gold at morning , silver at noon , and lead at night . It is your wise man , '' he added , `` who buys and sells early ; your merely sensible man who does so at midday ; while your dunce , waiting for an increased appetite at evening , swallows nothing but lead . '' I was in some respects a very fortunate man . If I had been a wise one ! It has been seen that I was singularly successful in business at my first beginning in my native city .