Historical Thought for the Day
February 17, 2010
Thought for the day:
If their business experience continues to satisfy us, we welcome lower market prices of stocks we own as an opportunity to acquire even more of a good thing at a better price.
–Warren Buffett, chairman's letter, Berkshire Hathaway annual report, 1977,
This day in financial history:
1753: The earliest known description of an electrical telegraph, entitled "An expeditious method for conveying intelligence," is published in Scots' Magazine. The author, identified only as "C.M." from the Scottish town of Renfrew, proposes a series of 24 wires, each attached to a small copper ball that will activate a letter of the alphabet at the other end of the wire when an electric current is transmitted. C.M. seems to suggest in his (her?) letter that the system has already been tested experimentally, but nothing more is known of its fate.
1874: Thomas J. Watson is born in Campbell, NY. After working as a bookkeeper, an itinerant peddler of musical instruments, and a salesman for NCR, he becomes the dynamic head of IBM who helps computerize the modern world. His famous motto, "THINK," is shortened from his favorite remark, " 'I didn't think' has cost the world millions of dollars."
Source
2000: Total trading volume for the day on NASDAQ tops 2 billion shares for the first time, as 2,008,438,100 shares change hands and the NASDAQ Composite Index closes above 4500 for the first time, finishing the day at 4548.92.
Source: Jason Zweig
