It Was a Very Good Year Extraordinary Moments in Stock Market History

by Fridson, Martin S.

• ISBN13: 9780471383802
• ISBN10: 0471383805
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-21
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

In this book, Fridson examines the phenomenon of how every so often a particular financial market takes off beyond anyone?s expectations, providing investors with an average return of thirty-five percent or more in a single year.

Author Biography

Martin S. Fridson is a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch and Company, and a member of Institutional Investor's All-America Research Team. He is the author of Investment Illusions and Financial Statement Analysis, both published by Wiley, and serves on the editorial board of Financial Analysts Journal.

Table of Contents

1908
Stocks rebounded from the Panic of 1907, dodging the dual threats of a European war and election of third-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan	1	(28)
1915
World War I turned from a depressant to a stimulant as Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan's resignation ended America's financial neutrality	29	(21)
1927
Margin lending mushroomed in response to an easy money policy promoted by New York Federal Reserve chief Benjamin Strong. Traditional stock valuation methods gave way to the optimism of Calvin Coolidge's New Era.	50	(17)
1928
Benjamin Strong finally tried to slow the growth of credit, but nonbank margin lenders kept the rally alive. Coolidge brushed off Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover's urgings to curb speculation.	67	(26)
1933
Franklin Roosevelt's inflationary measures provided the economic stimulus required to boost stocks from the low point of the Great Depression.	93	(24)
1935
The market surged on the strength of restored confidence in the banking system, abundant credit, and an economic rebound led by the automotive sector.	117	(20)
1954
A slowing economy induced the Treasury and Federal Reserve to shift their focus from containing inflation to averting a depression. Stock averages soared to levels not observed since the 1929 Crash.	137	(14)
1958
Corporate earnings remained sluggish following the Sputnik shock, but institutional investors smelled economic stimulus in heavy federal spending and the Federal Reserve's moderate posture.	151	(23)
1975
Stocks rallied from a post-1929 low in price-earnings ratios when a wave of bank failures induced the Federal Reserve to loosen credit.	174	(14)
1995
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's abrupt tightening of monetary policy in 1994 depressed prices, setting the stage for a rebound rally. Share prices soared when credit conditions eased, helped by Japan's drastic cut in interest rates.	188	(41)
EPILOGUE
What Causes the Very Good Years?	221	(8)
Selected Readings	229	(8)
Index	237