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01/08/2024

August 1st, 1995 – Just one day after Disney agreed to buy ABC/Capital Cities for $19 billion, Westinghouse agrees to buy CBS for $5.4 billion.

5 years later, CBS Corporation would be sold to Viacom for $35.6 billion!

01/08/2024

August 1st - This Day in Stock Market History

1914 – Germany declares war on Russia as World War 1 quickly escalates. The Stock Market closed the day before as fears surrounding the war and it’s suspected escalation mounted.

The market would remain closed until December 12th.

31/07/2024

July 31st – This Day in Stock Market History

1914 – Just 10 minutes before the New York Stock Exchange was scheduled to open, the governors of the exchange vote to close the stock market as fears of economic impacts of World War 1 mount.

It was reported in the New York Times that if the market had opened, it would have likely been the worst day in stock market history at the time. Brokers and banks were flooded with sell orders, with almost 0 buy orders ready for the open. Stocks had fallen nearly 7% the day before.

London stock exchanges would also close on this day.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia 2 days before. Germany would declare war on Russia the following day. In the span of just a week, all major European powers would be at war.

U.S. stock markets would remain closed until December 12th, London would reopen January 4th 1915.

For more on this day, visit: https://www.begintoinvest.com/july-31/

31/07/2024

July 31st - This Day in Stock Market History

1995 – Disney $DIS announces that it is purchasing Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion.

Capital Cities Communications is an amazing story of what an adept management team can do.

Warren Buffett has said: “Tom Murphy (pictured above) and Dan Burke were probably the greatest two-person combination in management that the world has ever or maybe ever will see.”

Coming from Warren Buffett, that is quite a compliment!

Capital Cities originally purchased ABC on March 19th, 1985 for $3.5 billion in 1985 (a deal partially financed by Warren Buffett in exchange for a 25% stake in the new business).

In total Tom Murphy would produce a 32% compounded annual growth rate for his shareholders from 1957 to 1995 – One of the best long term records that I am aware of.

31/07/2024

July 31st - This Day in Stock Market History

July 31st – This Day in Stock Market HistoryJuly 31st, 1914 – Just 10 minutes before the New York Stock Exchange was scheduled to open, the governors of the ...

30/03/2024

March 30th – This Day In Stock Market History

1981 – Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. The NYSE would close early on the news (at 3:17pm)

After John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, stock market trading reached some of the highest volumes seen in history. When news broke that Reagan had been shot, exchanges feared panic would ensue and decided to close down the exchanges.

News of the assassination broke at 2:30, and the market closed 45 minutes later. Over those 45 minutes the Dow Jones Industrial Average only dropped about 8 points, a little less than 1%.

Stock markets would rise 1.18% when trading resumed the next day.

30/03/2024

Quote Of The Day:

“Imagine this, if you had invested $10,000 in Priceline on October 9, 2002, and held on through the 2008 decline, you’d have about $1.47 million today. On the other hand, if you had invested $10,000 in a seemingly safe bet, General Motors (GM), you would have exactly $0 today. Remember the saying “as GM goes — so goes America?” “

-Quote from a CBS news article covering Priceline’s stock in 2013.

Priceline’s $BKNG IPO occurred on this day in 1999 – one of the hottest IPOs in history.

29/03/2024

March 29th – This Day In Stock Market History

1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average $DJIA closes above 10,000 for the first time.

The Dow first crossed the 10,000 mark on March 16th 1999, but would not close above 10,000 until this day in 1999.

However once the 10,000 barrier was broken, it was off to the races. The Dow would break the 11,000 barrier just 24 days later, on May 3rd.

29/03/2024

“All you need for a lifetime of successful investing is a few big winners, and the pluses from those will overwhelm the minuses from the stocks that don’t work out.”

-Peter Lynch

28/03/2024

March 28th - This Day in Stock Market History

1979 – Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania melts down.

It would be the worst nuclear accident in America’s history.

Whether it was related or not, the stock market declined about 0.6% on the day, and saw the highest volume of the year.

28/03/2024

March 28th - This Day in Stock Market History

2013 – The S&P 500 hits new high for the first time since October 9th 2007, finally recovering from the financial crisis.

The index would close the day at 1569.19, the index’s first all time high in 5 and a half years.

28/03/2024

Quote of the Day

“At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained. In particular, mortgages to prime borrowers and fixed-rate mortgages to all classes of borrowers continue to perform well, with low rates of delinquency.”

-Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve in testimony before U.S. Congress on March 28th, 2007

1 year later the U.S. economy would be in turmoil, primarily due to the impact of subprime mortgages.

More here:

March 28th - This Day in Stock Market History. 1969 - President Eisenhower dies. 2007 - Ben Bernanke makes his famous "house crisis is contained" speech

29/02/2024

Read of the Day:

Warren Buffett in 1974 – Forbes Magazine:

The 1970s was a rough patch for stocks, real returns were negative for the whole decade, something that has rarely happened in stock market history. This Forbes interview with Warren Buffett is the source for his now famous “Like an oversexed guy in a harem” quote.

A Forbes profile reveals a singular personality and an investment strategy on display this weekend at Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder meeting.

28/02/2024

Quote of the Day

“You’re dealing with a lot of silly people in the marketplace; it’s like a great big casino and everyone else is boozing. If you can stick with Pepsi, you should be OK.”

-Warren Buffett, in a 1974 interview for Forbes Magazine

28/02/2024

February 28th – This Day in Stock Market History

February 28th, 1964 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 800 for the first time. However, this would not be the market’s last look at the 800 barrier.

The market would bounce above and below the 800 level throughout the 1970s, and only finally eclipse the 800 barrier for good in 1982.

We forget just how bad of a decade the 70s were for the stock markets. U.S. stocks literally went nowhere for 15+ years!

27/02/2024

February 27th – This Day in Stock Market History

February 27th, 1933 – Stocks reach a low for the year, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 50.16, 37% below its peak just 5 months earlier.

This low would turn out to be one of the best buying moments in all of history.

By the end of the year stocks would finish up 53% for the year, the best year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in history.

26/02/2024

February 26th – This Day in Stock Market History

February 26th, 1987 – The Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Fund, the first portfolio of emerging markets stocks available for retail investors, is launched. The fund was managed by Mark Mobius, who would stay with Templeton until retiring in January 2018.

Over the next 20 years the fund would gather more than $330 million in assets, and would achieve an average annual return of 11.77%.

25/02/2024

February 25th - This Day in Stock Market History

1913 – The 16th amendment to the constitution is ratified, allowing for an income tax in the United States. The Revenue act of 1913, the bill that actually established the income tax, would be enacted shortly thereafter.

The amendment reads:

“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”