Image Credit: “Stocks Down,” lithograph, Nathaniel Currier, ca. 1849, Library of Congress By Jason Zweig | 2:50 pm ET Jan. 27, 2016 The government massively overinvested in transportation and land development. The banking system was inefficient and corrupt. State governments gorged on debt, then defaulted on it with aplomb. The stock market...
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Image credit: Frank Bellew, “Panic, as a Health Officer, Sweeping the Garbage out of Wall Street,” The Daily Graphic, Sept. 29, 1873, Library of Congress By Jason Zweig | 12:05 pm ET Jan. 26, 2016 With China’s stock market crumpling another 6%, it’s worth looking back at the financial history of the word “panic” to see whether its past offers...
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Image credit: “Spring sale, Ponchatula, Louisiana,” Russell Lee, photograph, 1939, Library of Congress By Jason Zweig and Sarah Krouse | Jan. 26, 2016 In November, asset manager BlackRock Inc. said it would slash by more than 50% the annual expenses charged to investors in an exchange-traded fund that aims to mimic the performance of the entire...
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Image Credit: Christophe Vorlet By Jason Zweig | 12:41 pm ET Jan. 22, 2016 There’s nothing like a 10% drop in the stock market in the first few days of the year to rev up Wall Street’s myth-making machine. Although stocks regained some lost ground late this past week, the usual cliches about “panic” and “capitulation” have been flying — and investors...
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Image credit: The New York Stock Exchange closes the door on its members, Sept. 20, 1873, Library of Congress By Jason Zweig | 3:39 pm ET Jan. 15, 2016 Stocks have fallen far and fast, but not nearly enough to make them a bargain. After all the carnage so far in January, including today’s big drop, the U.S. stock market has gone from very overpriced to...
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