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On this day in 1985, Capital Cities Communications announced a $3.5 billion acquisition of ABC. Warren Buffett helped finance it for a 25% stake. Cap Cities started with a $299,000 market cap in 1957 and produced compounded annual return of 32.79% for shareholders!

[Sky Marchini @rhcm123]

it is friday, march 13, 2020. global markets are in freefall. President Trump declares a national emergency over the covid pandemic.

it is friday, march 13, 2026.

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40 years ago today: Microsoft $MSFT went public at $21/share. Bill Gates was 30. The stock closed at $27.75 — a 32% first-day pop. A $1,000 investment that day would be worth $5+ million today. Gates became a billionaire within a year.

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“Speculators purchased bubble company shares not as long-term investments but to sell them to greater fools. They soon realized they were the greater fools in the market.”

- Edward Chancellor, on market euphoria during the South Sea Bubble

More details: https://t.co/z65dlcculL

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For a detailed look at pets dot com, see our blog post "Lessons from the Pets Dot Com Downfall" here: https://t.co/EdsXdciGGK

And, for more on this day in history here: https://t.co/OvGf8rOccH

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February 11th – This Day in Stock Market History

February 11th, 2000 – Pets dot com IPOs at $11 per share. It would reach as high as $14 per share before its collapse:

Pets dot com became symbolic of the mania involved with the dot-com boom of the late 90s and early 2000.

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By November 6th, 2000 https://t.co/jMWs9PmOGq would be gone – just 268 days after its IPO.

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August 1st, 1995 – Just one day after Disney agreed to buy ABC/Capital Cities for $19 billion, Westinghouse agrees to buy CBS for $5.4 billion.

5 years later, CBS Corporation would be sold to Viacom for $35.6 billion!

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August 1st - This Day in Stock Market History

1914 – Germany declares war on Russia as World War 1 quickly escalates. The Stock Market closed the day before as fears surrounding the war and it’s suspected escalation mounted.

The market would remain closed until December 12th.

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July 31st - This Day in Stock Market History

1995 – Disney $DIS announces that it is purchasing Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion.

In total Tom Murphy would produce a 32% compounded annual growth rate for his shareholders from 1957 to 1995.

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July 31st - This Day in Stock Market History

1914 – Just 10 minutes before the NYSE was set to open, the governors vote to close the market as fears of World War 1 mount.

It was reported that if the market had opened, it would have been the worst day in stock market history.

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July 31st - This Day in Stock Market History

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March 30th – This Day In Stock Market History

1981 – Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.

When news broke that Reagan had been shot, exchanges feared panic would ensue and decided to close. Over those 45 minutes it took to close, the Dow $DJIA dropped about 1%.

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March 29th – This Day In Stock Market History

1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average $DJIA closes above 10,000 for the first time.

The Dow would not stop there - The 11,000 barrier was broken just 24 days later, on May 3rd.

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“All you need for a lifetime of successful investing is a few big winners, and the pluses from those will overwhelm the minuses from the stocks that don’t work out.”

-Peter Lynch

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March 28th - This Day in Stock Market History

1979 – Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania melts down.

It would be the worst nuclear accident in America’s history.

The stock market declined about 0.6% on the day, and saw the highest volume of the year.

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March 28th - This Day in Stock Market History

2013 – The S&P 500 hits new high for the first time since October 9th 2007, finally recovering from the financial crisis.

The index would close the day at 1569.19, the index’s first all time high in 5 and a half years.

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Quote of the Day

“At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained.”

-Ben Bernanke, in testimony before Congress on March 28th, 2007