August 28th – This Day in Stock Market History

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Quote of the Day

“In the world of business, favorable opportunities are where you find them. The prizes go to those who are ready. New industries, new kinds of business, are particularly promising to people who get into them early, because there is the chance to share in their growth.”

-James Casey, who on this day in 1907 seized on a favorable opportunity to deliver packages to customers and founded the company that would become UPS.

August 28th – This Day in Stock Market History

August 28th, 1907 – James Casey founds the American Messenger Company, which would change its name to the United Parcel Service, known today simply as UPS.

The business began by Casey delivering packages on foot and bicycle. By 1913 the company would buy a Ford Model T to help expand its delivery area.

UPSModelT1921

Casey was just 19 years old at the time he founded the company, and initially capitalized the company by borrowing $100 from a friend. Today the company is worth $105 billion!

8-28 Today in Stock Market History UPS infographic

The company would remain privately held until November 10th, 1999 when it would go public in what would be the largest IPO in history at the time.

After its first day of trading as a public company, UPS would have a valuation of $81 billion.


Best August 28th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History

1975 – Up 2.76%, 22.27 points.

Worst August 28th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History

1919 – Down 2.58%, 2.28 points.

Read of the Day

“The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got (or Gave)” – from the archives of Jason Zweig.

In this post from 2013, Zweig interviews 22 people from a wide variety of backgrounds; from the owner of the Yankees to notable authors, to Nobel Prize winners, to find out the best financial advice they have ever received (or gave). Though the post may be a few years old, the advice is timeless.

Here’s my favorite:

William Bernstein, neurologist and investment manager at money-management firm Efficient Frontier Advisors

The best financial advice I ever got was from Fred Schwed’s classic book, “Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?”, first published in 1940. Schwed wrote: “Like all of life’s rich emotional experiences, the full flavor of losing important money cannot be conveyed by literature. Art cannot convey to an inexperienced girl what it is truly like to be a wife and mother. There are certain things that cannot be adequately explained to a virgin either by words or pictures. Nor can any description I might offer here even approximate what it feels like to lose a real chunk of money that you used to own.”

I’ve never forgotten that. Finance is never, ever, a theoretical exercise; you’re never half as detached from portfolio losses as you think you will be.

You can read the article in its entirety here: The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got (or Gave)

<– Go To Previous Day: August 27th, 1957: Ford unveils the Edsel, which would be the largest bust in automotive history

Go To Next Day: August 29th, 2008: Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft –>