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This Day in Markets History

edited July 28 in Other Investing
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.

On this day in 1971, Wells Fargo launched the world’s first stock-index fund.
A mutual-fund manager sniped: “If people start believing this random-walk garbage and switch to index funds,
a lot of $80,000-a-year portfolio managers and analysts will be replaced by $16,000-a-year computer clerks.
It just can’t happen.”

Comments

  • Good stuff. Thanks. :)

    But we still have the expensive managers.
  • Those index funds were in corporate plans. Public had the first taste on 8/31/1976, the inception date for VFINX.
  • edited July 28
    From WABAC's link:

    "The fundamental problem facing individual investors in 1960
    was that there were too many mutual-fund companies¹: over 250 of them."


    How quaint!
    According to the SEC, there were 8.49K mutual funds and 3.75K ETFs available in the U.S. at the end of 2024.
    The sheer number of funds available can lead to paralysis analysis!
    https://www.sec.gov/data-research/data-visualizations/registered-fund-statistics/registered-funds-number-funds


    ¹ Mutual funds apparently were also referred to as mutual-fund companies or "investment companies."
  • edited July 29
    From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.

    On this day in 1869, the New York Stock Exchange was formed from the merger of the New York Stock
    & Exchange Board with the Open Board and the Government Board, where Treasury bonds were traded.
  • From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.

    On this day in 1914, stock exchanges in Berlin, Rome, and Vienna were closed
    as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Investors panicked in New York:
    General Motors shares plunged 34%, and Bethlehem Steel dropped 14%,
    even though it made the metal that would be needed for weapons.
  • From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.

    On this day in 1914, with war raging in Europe, the New York Stock Exchange closed
    and stayed shut for another four and a half months to allow the chaotic market to settle.
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