On this day in history...

[bjornredtail]

Okay, I had a bit of an idea for an ongoing topic: We would post links to and discuss events that occurred on the current date in history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_19

Some interesting points:
1781 - At Yorktown, Virginia, British commander Lord Cornwallis surrendered to a Franco-American force led by George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau, paving the way for the end of the American Revolutionary War.
1987 - (Black Monday) Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points. This is considered a Stock Market Crash.
1987 - English Cellist Jacquline Du Pre dies.

[Kraken]

awsome idea bjork!

[Nuclear Raunch]

On this date in 2007 Nuke spammed this thread.

[bjornredtail]

Darn, I guess it isn't really working out. With all the history buffs out there, I at least would have thought there would be some discussion of Cornwallis surrendering. Though, to be fair, I should have posted more on the life of Jackie.

[The Beatles]

We sort of forgot. Besides, what's Cornwallis surrendering? It's symbolic. Far more interesting to pick, say, the date some key American documents were written and generate debate that way. I'll try to find something interesting tomorrow though.

[edit] Talk of the devil though, for a busy day!

Big Events:
# 1861 - The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express.
# 1917 - The day of the Russian revolution, The Red Revolution.
# 1929 - "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.
# 1945 - Founding of the United Nations
# 1954 - Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam
# 1980 - Government of Poland legalises Solidarity trade union
# 2002 - Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC.
# 2003 - Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

Small Events:
# 1857 - Sheffield F.C., the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England.
# 1960 - Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100. Among the dead is Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash
# 1986 - Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow. After the verdict, the United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi was helped by Syrian officials.
# 1990 - Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti reveals to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian "stay-behind" clandestine paramilitary NATO army.

Births:
# 1947 - Kevin Kline, American actor
# 1985 - Wayne Rooney, English footballer

Deaths:
# 1537 - Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII of England
# 1601 - Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (b. 1546)
# 1922 - George Cadbury, British chocolate and cocoa manufacturer (b. 1839)
# 1945 - Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian traitor (executed) (b. 1887)
# 2005 - Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (b. 1913)



Not to mention, yesterday was the anniversary of the failed Hungarian '56 uprising.

[bjornredtail]

Well, symbolic though it is, It might serve as a proxy for a broader discussion of the American Revolution... Though it now seems adventitious to move the thread forward.

The 1929 crash? How odd... The 1987 crash occurred just around a week or so ago. Is there any trend for major market activity like that to occur this time of year?

[Gen. Volkov]

I think it's the end of one of the quarters, so it very well might be the case.

[Nuclear Raunch]

Hah, I just heard this very same question posed to a financial consultant. The consultant's explanation was that if a company was not going to make their earnings expectations they would usually admit it around October. (Not that there's any law, or deadline of any type, it's just that many feel that at that point it's too late in the year to rebound, so that's why they admit it then) Another factor is that October is somewhat infamous for having the big Wall Street crashes, so investors tend to get very skittish around this time of year. Once the ball starts rolling people are more likely to panic than in any other month.

In fact October is one of the reasons why WS went to their 10% collar rule, in which they suspend all trading for 1 hour if the market falls 10% in a single day. If it drops 20% they suspend trading for 2 days, and if it hits 30% they stop for the day. There's plenty of nervousness this year, with the credit crisis fears getting even more play than it has been thanks to Octoberitis. I forget what the numbers were but I know last week was pretty rough, that's kinda why the whole discussion came up in the first place.

[The Beatles]

That would somehow seem to go against it being a free stock market. In other words, people could in theory make a lot of money off of that by just exploiting the trend.

[Kraken]

On this day in 1881, the Earp brothers face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona...

i just love westerns! yeehaw!

[Nuclear Raunch]

That would somehow seem to go against it being a free stock market. In other words, people could in theory make a lot of money off of that by just exploiting the trend.

I have zero evidence to support this, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an increase in shortselling around this time of year.

BTW check out WellCare Health Plans- man did those guys TANK. On Tuesday their stock went as high as $128.42 and on Thursday it was selling as low as $27.50. I'd be sick to my stomach if I bought earlier this week, but man oh man if you would have shortsold them earlier...

They are under investigation for fraud, which prompted the tumble. The stock holder class action lawsuit didn't help matters any. It's probably the end of the road for them, so really selling for $27.50 at this point isn't a bad idea. Just sucks that they lost nearly 80% of their value in 2 days.