“Although big generalized manias in financial instruments tend to receive the most press coverage, history is rife with speculative frenzies in specific agricultural commodities which, despite their smaller scale, have been just as ruinous for those involved. This section rounds up several such examples, ranging from the Merino mania of 1809–10 to the ostrich feather bubble of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”
“A regulatory change in 1893 made speculating on the St. Petersburg stock market more accessible to small investors. We find a momentum effect that is similar in magnitude to those in modern markets and stronger during the post-1893 period than during the pre-1893 period, consistent with the overconfidence theory of momentum.”
“Between 1692 and 1811, GFD used an equal-weighted average of the price of the Bank of England, East India Co. and South Sea Co. However, using an equal-weighted index underestimated the return to shareholders… As you can see, the market-cap weighted index provides a higher return than the equal-weighted Index since the largest component, the Bank of England outperformed the shares of the other two companies.”
“The water bond lives on. It still pays annual interest more than 367 years after it was issued. Timothy Young, the library’s curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, has travelled to Amsterdam this week to visit Stichtse Rijnlanden, a Dutch water authority, and collect 12 years of interest on the bond.”
