Trivia - Brain Teasers - Illusions
Brush up on some interesting facts about stocks and test your knowledge in Stock Trivia.
The Beginnings
What is the history of stocks?
Trying to define when stock and bond trading began depends on how you define a stock. A stock is considered to be a share of ownership in a company that can be bought, sold or traded. A bond is a loan to a company that can be bought, sold or traded.
Trading of shares of ownership may have begun as early as 9000 BC to 8000 BC, at which time tokens, which were made out of clay, were used for accounting and financial purposes. Unfortunately, writing hadn’t been invented at that time, so there is no way to confirm whether or not ‘shares’ of ownership existed.
Later, around 4000 BC to 3000 BC, an item called a bulla (plural: bullae or bullas) came into use. This was like a clay purse that contained accounting tokens, and was completely sealed. These often had seals imprinted on them, and eventually had notations written on them designating how many tokens were inside and what they represented. For example, they may have represented a certain number of sheep. These inscriptions on the outside of the bullae led to what is called cuneiform, considered to be the earliest form of writing.
From around 2500 BC to 1800 BC, cuneiform came into use extensively, especially for financial transactions. Cuneiform is the writing on clay tablets, with a reed used as a stylus. During this period in Mesopotamia, there was a substantial amount of economic activity: agriculture, crafts, ranching, trading, etc. The first documented bond transactions have been documented by cuneiform, where silver has been lent out to a business, and that loan has been transferred to another individual. In addition, the earliest stock or share transactions have also been documented in cuneiform, for funding maritime trade expeditions.
According to some sources, stock exchanges originally came about from trading in agricultural and other commodities during the Middle Ages at what were called Euro-Fairs. Credit was commonly given, and therefore supporting documents were created such as drafts, notes, and bills of exchange. These were the precursors to modern stock and bonds certificates. During the seventeenth century, certificates of ownership of busineses came into existance. These businesses were primarily involved in trade with the East Indies.
What were the five oldest stock exchanges worldwide?
Antwerp Bourse 1460
Lyons Bourse 1506
Toulouse Bourse 1549
Hamburg Bourse 1558
London Royal Exchange 1571
What were the three oldest stock exchanges in the US?
Philadelphia Stock Exchange 1790
New York Stock Exchange 1792
Boston Stock Exchange 1834
What were the three oldest commodities exchanges in the US?
Chicago Board of Trade 1848
Kansas City Board of Trade 1856
New York Cotton Exchange 1870
What were the first publicly traded securities in the U.S.?
$80 million in U.S. Government bonds that were issued in 1790 to refinance Revolutionary War debt.
When where the beginnings of the New York Stock Exchange established and what was the name of the founding document?
In 1792, the Buttonwood Agreement, signed by twenty-four brokers and merchants on Wall Street, agreeing to trade securities on a common commission basis.
What was the first listed company on the New York Stock Exchange?
Bank of New York, which was the first corporate stock traded under the Buttonwood tree in 1792, and the first listed company on the NYSE.
Who were the 24 brokers who signed the "Buttonwood Agreement" on May 17, 1792, and became the first New York Stock Exchange members? Leonard Bleecker , Hugh Smith , Armstrong & Barnewall , Samuel March , Bernard Hart , Alexander Zuntz , Andrew D. Barclay , Sutton & Hardy , Benjamin Seixas , John Henry , John A. Hardenbrook , Samuel Beebe , Benjamin Winthrop , John Ferrers , Ephraim Hart , Isaac M. Gomez , Gulian McEvers , Augustine H. Lawrence , G. N. Bleecker , John Bush , Peter Anspach , Charles McEvers, Jr. , David Reedy , Robinson & Hartshorne
Women & Minorities
Who was the first African American member of the NYSE?
Joseph L. Searles III, who became a member on February 12, 1970
Who was the first female member of the NYSE?
Muriel Siebert, who became a member on December 28, 1967
Who was the first woman member who worked on the trading floor on a regular basis of the NYSE?
Alice Jarcho, became a member on Oct. 14, 1976, began working on the trading floor on October 28, 1976
What was the first African American owned NYSE member firm?
Daniels & Bell Inc., in 1971
Highs & Lows
Highest price paid for a seat (membership) on the NYSE?
$2,650,000 on August 23, 1999
Lowest price paid for a seat (membership) on the NYSE?
$4,000 in 1876 and 1878
Lowest price paid for a seat (membership) on any major stock exchange?
25 cents in 1979 for the Pacific Stock Exchange; another seat traded shortly thereafter for 75 cents.
What was the highest volume day on the NYSE?
January 4, 2001, when 2,129,445,637 shares traded.
What was the lowest volume day on the NYSE?
March 16, 1830, when only 31 shares traded.
What was the highest that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has closed at?
It closed at 11497.12 on December 31, 1999.
Longevity
What has been the longest-listed company on the NYSE?
Con Edison, which was listed in 1824 as the New York Gas Light Company
What was the oldest company that was listed on the NYSE?
Bowne & Company, Inc. It was founded 1775 but it wasn't listed until 1999.
What New York Stock Exchange Member has the longest service membership?
David Granger, who has been a member since 1926, for 76 years.
Milestones
When did the Dow Jones Industrial Average first close over 100?
January 12, 1906, when it closed at 100.25
When did the Dow Jones Industrial Average first close over 1,000?
November 14, 1972, when it closed at 1,003.16
When did the Dow Jones Industrial Average first close over 10,000?
March 29, 1999, when it closed at 10006.78
When did stock share trading volume for the NYSE first go over 1 million?
1886
When did stock share trading volume for the NYSE first go over 10 million?
1929
When did stock share trading volume for the NYSE first go over 100 million?
1982
When did stock share trading volume for the NYSE first go over 1 billion?
1997
Firsts
When were the first stock tickers and ticker tapes used?
1867
What was the first firm that was a member of the NYSE that became listed on the NYSE?
Merrill Lynch, which became listed on July 27, 1971.
Miscellaneous Trivia
What New York Stock Exchange stock, back in 1989, had no employees?
Wabash Railroad, which had as its principal asset 1700 miles of railroad track, but no trains. It owned the track from Buffalo to Omaha, that it leased out. Their preferred stock traded on the NYSE.
What was the highest share price?
Yahoo! Japan. According to a representative for Shareholder Relations for the Yahoo! Japan company, the highest price of the stock was 167.9 million Japanese Yen on Feb. 22, 2000. If you exchange the above JPY into USD at the exchange rate at that time (Approx USD1=JPY111.01), it was approximately $1,512,500 per share.
What is the highest priced share on the New York Stock Exchange?
Berkshire Hathaway (Class A shares), which closed at
$71,000 at the end of 2000
$75,600 at the end of 2001
$72,750 at the end of 2002
$84,250 at the end of 2003
$87,900 at the end of 2004
$88,620 at the end of 2005.
What is the highest priced share on the American Stock Exchange?
Seaboard Corp. (SEB), which closed at
$156 at the end of 2000
$306 at the end of 2001
$242 at the end of 2002
$282 at the end of 2003
$998 at the end of 2004
$1511 at the end of 2005.
What was the highest priced share traded on NASDAQ?
Grey Global Group (GREY) traded over $1000 per share in October of 2004. Previously it closed at
$650 at the end of 2000
$667 at the end of 2001
$611 at the end of 2002
$683 at the end of 2003
$1005 in 2004
Merged with WPP.
Currently, the highest priced shares on NASDAQ is
Google (GOOG)
$192.79 at the end of 2004
$414.86 at the end of 2005.
What is the highest priced share traded over the counter?
There are a number of high priced shares that rarely trade. One of the stocks which does trade regularly is First National Bank of Alaska (FBAK) which closed at
$875 at the end of 2000
$1,175 at the end of 2001
$1,380 at the end of 2002
$2,235 at the end of 2003
$2400 at the end of 2004
$2215 at the end of 2005.
Another high priced over-the-counter share is Sunwest Bank (SWBC) which closed at
$61.99 at the end of 2002
$90.49 at the end of 2003
$2877.00 at the end of 2004 (after 1 for 30 reverse split)
$3500.00 at the end of 2005.
What stock had a boulder as its principal asset during the early and mid-1980 s?
Natural Bridge of Virginia, which owned the arched boulder that supports Route 11. They had about 162,000 shares outstanding.
What stock has CASH for its symbol?
First Midwest Financial, Inc.
What stock has BABY for its symbol?
Natus Medical, Inc.
What stock had GRRR for its stock symbol?
Lion Country Safari
What stock has the symbol BOOT?
Lacrosse Footware Inc.
What was the original name of the American Stock Exchange and why?
The Curb, because it was originally started by traders on the streets of New York City standing on and by the curb.
What publicly traded stock during the 1970 s and 1980 s had as its major asset 60 million cubic feet of rock?
Indiana Limestone, which had 551,000 shares outstanding in 1983, and traded as high as 17 and as low as 10, that year.
Was there really a stock exchange in Hawaii?
Yes, the Honolulu Stock Exchange operated from 1910 to 1976.
What was the highest denomination for any stock certificate worldwide?
5 billion marks (5,000,000,000) par value for the German company Croning-Schloss AG in 1923.
What was the smallest US bond in physical size?
The State of Louisiana 'Baby Bond' Certificate, called a Baby Bond for three reasons: Its small denomination of $5 (making this the lowest denomination US municipal bond also), its small size of about 3 inches by 5 inches, and its vignette of a baby wearing a hat.
The following three items are from Terry Cox, RR stock expert.
What was the highest denomination for a U. S. railroad bond?
$42,110,000 for the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (Rail Road) Co. Bond, 100-yr, 4.5%, registered gold, dated 1913, due 2013, 'Series A,' , refunding & improvement issue.
What was the lowest denomination for a railroad bond?
$2 for the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (Mexico) Bond, 3-yr, 6%, gold note, 1914, due 1917, denominated in gold US dollars, Mexican gold pesos (4 Pesos), pounds and Reich marks, Series B.
What was the largest physical size of a bond on one piece of paper?
New York Cable Railway, which measures approximately 2 feet by 3 feet including coupons, $1000 denomination dated 1884.
Don't forget to check out the Investment Trivia web site which has info on Bulls and Bears and Pink Sheets and more by clicking on:
Investment Trivia
Last edited by Aufan 1983; 07-29-2007 at 09:39 AM.
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