August 29th – This Day in Stock Market History

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Quote of the Day

″A billion dollars isn’t what it used to be.″

-Nelson “Bunker” Hunt, who on this day in 1986 would see his oil company declare bankruptcy, 6 years after his notorious failure to corner the silver market.

August 29th – This Day in Stock Market History

August 29th, 1898 – Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is formed in Akron, Ohio.

Goodyear’s first factory on the banks of the Little Cuyahoga River in East Akron, Ohio. Source: Goodyear

The company was incorporated with initial capital of $100,000. The company would record $8,246 in sales for their first month of business. Revenue for first full year of the company’s operation totaled $508,597, for a net profit of $34,621.

The company would go public on August 5th, 1927.

Today, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which trades under the ticker symbol: GT, is worth $2.5 billion, but was worth as much as $15 billion at its peak in 1998:

GT_chart_goodyear_tire_stock

Source: Goodyear Corporate

August 29th, 1986 – The Hunt Brother’s Oil Company, Placid Oil declares bankruptcy.

At the time, the company employed 20,000 workers and was one of the largest privately held oil companies in the United States.

New York Times Coverage of Hunt Brothers Oil Bankruptcy
New York Times Coverage of Hunt Brothers Oil Bankruptcy

The Hunt Brother certainly were gamblers. Brother Nelson “Bunker” Hunt would be the world’s richest person at one point.  Their businesses were always involved in largely speculative bets.

Of course the Hunt Brothers are most known for their attempt to corner the silver market in 1980, which climaxed with the failure of their corner on a day now known as “Silver Thursday” – March 27th, 1980.

The Hunt Brothers would declare personal bankruptcy 2 years later, in what would be the largest personal bankruptcies in the nation’s history, with more than $1 billion owed to creditors.

Today the Hunt family is still one of the world’s wealthiest – With a total net worth over $16 billion, mostly from Hunt Oil.


Best August 29th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History

2011 – Up 2.26%, 254.71 points.

Worst August 29th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History

1938 – Down 3.44%, 4.89 points.

Read of the Day

For those looking for a little more detail on the spectacular history of the Hunt Brothers:

Texas Rich: The Hunt Dynasty, from the Early Oil Days Through the Silver Crash

The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes

 

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