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Quote of the Day
“Biggest problem? Well, I’d say it’s been my biggest problem all my life; money. It takes a lot of money to make these dreams come true. From the very start it was a problem; getting the money to open Disneyland. About seventeen million it took. And we had everything mortgaged including my personal insurance.”
-Walt Disney
Hearing Walt Disney complain about money seems ironic today, but 85 years ago he was a struggling film maker who has just seen his first company go bankrupt. But today in 1923, something would happen to change his future forever…
October 16th – This Day in Stock Market History
October 16th, 1923 – Brothers Roy and Walt Disney sell their first cartoon, “Alice Comedies”, for $1,500.
The sale would launch The Disney Brother Cartoon Studio, which would eventually become The Walt Disney Company we know today.
This came less than one year after Disney’s first company, Laugh-O-Gram Studios, went bankrupt.
Today Disney’s annual revenue is just a little bit higher, at around $55 billion:
October 16th, 1962 – President Kennedy is shown the photos of Soviet Union missiles in Cuba, starting the Cuban missile crisis.
Kennedy would announce a naval blockade of Cuba 8 days later, on October 22nd, 1962.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average would fall 2% after the blockade was announced, and was down 24% from its high earlier in the year.
October 16th, 1987 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls more than 100 points for the first time in history.
Although many say Black Monday came out of nowhere, investors were showing signs of unease.
October 14th, 1987 saw a 95 point decline for the Dow, which was a record point decline at the time. And this day in 1987 saw another record decline. The week would be the worst performing week in stock market history since World War 2.
The fall on this day also set a new record for volume on the New York Stock Exchange with 338,500,000 shares traded.
The decline took place on a Friday. They next day the markets open would be October 19th, 1987 – “Black Monday”, where the Dow would fall 508 points, or 22%.
The stock market volatility would generate front page New York Times coverage over the weekend:
Best October 16th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History
1903 – Up 5.11%, 1.58 points.
Worst October 16th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History
1933 – Down 5.34%, 5.1 points.
Read of the Day
Charlie and I continue to believe that short-term market forecasts are poison and should be kept locked up in a safe place, away from children and also from grown-ups who behave in the market like children.
– Warren Buffett in his 1992 shareholder letter. You can read the entire letter here
<– Go To Previous Day: October 15th, 1907 – The Panic of 1907 begins as a corner on United Copper fails
Go To Next Day: October 17th, 1975 – New York City comes within 2 hours of bankruptcy –>
