Historical Thought for the Day
February 4, 2010
Thought for the day:
Diversified portfolios behave very differently than the individual assets in them, in much the same way that a cake tastes different from shortening, flour, butter, and sugar.
William J. Bernstein, The Intelligent Asset Allocation
This day in financial history:
1887: The Interstate Commerce Act is enacted, creating the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission and giving the Federal government the radical new right to regulate the conduct of private businesses acting in the public interest, such as railroads.
1994: Without any warning, and just as investors are pouring billions of dollars into bonds, the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates for the first time in five years. By year-end, the Fed has hiked short-term rates by 2.5 percentage points -- and Treasury bonds lose 7.8%, their worst return since 1967.
Source: Jason Zweig
