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Quote of the Day
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
July 16th – This Day in Stock Market History
July 16th, 1945 – First atomic bomb tested in New Mexico desert at 5:29 am.
Hiroshima would be bombed just 3 weeks later. Japan would surrender on September 2nd, 1945 to end World War 2.
The U.S. had been gaining ground in the Pacific, but the development of the nuclear bomb is often credited with preventing the need for a ground invasion of Japan by the U.S. and its allies. Investors had become more optimistic on the war’s outcome, reflected by the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearly doubling from 1942 to this time in 1945:
July 16th, 1990 – U.S. stock markets arrive at a short term peak as the Dow closes at 2999.75, after flirting with the 3000 mark, markets would fall 21% as fears about Saddam Hussein and Iraq intensify. The Dow would not break 3000 until April 17th 1991.
The market’s pause at the 3,000 barrier would be one of the few during the market’s incredible bull market run in the 1990s.
July 16th, 1995 – Amazon’s website opens for business.
Here is what Amazon’s webpage looked like on its first day:
For the first month, the website would not be marketed, but only gain in popularity by word of mouth.
The radical concept of selling books online was enough to get people talking.
Within a month, Bezos and Amazon would sell a book to every state, and have $20,000 in monthly sales.
July 16th, 1997 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 8000 for the first time.
July 16th, 1998 – Russia and the IMF come to an agreement for a $17.1 billion rescue package to support the nation’s struggling economy. Russian stocks rocket higher, gaining 17% on the day. Earlier in the year, Russia’s central bank interest rates reached 150%. However the rescue package would not solve Russia’s problems. On August 17th Russia would announce that it would not make payments on its debt. That announcement led to another wave of selling. The Russian crisis would also hurt one of the most famous hedge funds, Long Term Capital Management (LTCM). The Russian crisis was one of their primary reasons of failure just 2 months later.
Source: Panic, Prosperity, and Progress: Five Centuries of History and the Markets
Best July 16th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History
1931 – Up 3.00%, 4.13 points.
Worst July 16th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History
2010 – Down 2.52%, 261.41 points.
Read of the Day
Although Feynman had very little direct involvement in the stock market, I think his lessons on learning are incredibly beneficial for investors to learn.
Shane Parish of The Farnam Street Blog, does a great job of breaking down how Feynman studied (and mastered) everything he touched:
<– Go to Previous Day: July 15th, 1916 – Boeing Founded
Go To Next Day: July 17th, 1998: Mark Cuban’s Broadcast.com goes public, jumps 250% on first day of trading —>
