The Plungers and the Peacocks: 170 Years of Wall Street

by Thomas, Dana Lee

• ISBN13: 9781587991097
• ISBN10: 1587991098
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-24
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

The Plungers and the Peacocks is an entertaining portrait of the personalities and corporate battles of Wall Street, the most famous financial district in the world. Using interviews with "old-timers" who lived through the events of the Street from the 1920s to the 40s and memoirs, and letters, the author has produced a sweeping narrative of "the games people played" in establishing America's financial center. Dana L. Thomas recounts a roller-coaster ride of excitement and intrigue, from the slave auctions of Captain Kidd to the battle by Robert Young to gain control of the New York Central Railroad.

Table of Contents

About the author	vii
Introduction	xi
`Speculation Wiped a Tear...'	1	(8)
The Founding Fathers Hatch a Deal and Wall Street is Born
The Blue, the Gray and the Gold	9	(10)
Abe Lincoln Battles the Wall Street Saboteurs
Ulysses in Night Town	19	(21)
The Plot to Seize the Nation's Gold Supply -- the Ruin of an Ex-president
The Bulls and the Bears	40	(17)
Harriman's Secret for Making a Quick Fortune -- the Trick That Launched US Steel
The Great Society -- Yesterday	57	(25)
Wall Street's First Lady Brokers, from a Brothel to High Society -- J. P. Morgan, the Jekyll and Hyde of the Street
Bank Runs and a Money Panic	82	(30)
The Birth of the Dow Theory
The Bulls See Red	112	(11)
The Bombing of Wall Street, a Mystery and Madness
The Big Swingers	123	(35)
The Fabulous Rise of General Motors -- How to Make Millions Selling America Short
Prophets and Profits	158	(13)
A Secret Visit to the White House and a Warning
The Crash of 1929	171	(22)
This is the Way the World Ends
The Great Depression	193	(24)
The Scheme to Abolish Money -- Joe Kennedy Launches the SEC: He Knows Where the Bodies Lie
The Corporate Raiders	217	(25)
The Battle for 20th Century Fox -- the Rise and Fall of a Texas Financier
Plungers, Peacocks and Technology	242	(33)
The Computer Revolution comes to Wall Street -- the Crash of 1987
Final Thoughts	275	(1)
Bibliography	276	(14)
Index	290	(7)
About Texere	297