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• Scripophily: An Intriguing Hobby - 31 December 2008

Scripophily is a specialized field of numismatics (the study and collection of currency) which focuses on the study and collection of old bonds and stocks. What makes scripophily particularly interesting is the historic context of each document, as well as the artistic design and intricate detail on many of these valuable documents. Scripophily first gained recognition as a hobby in the early 1970s, with the word being coined from a combination of the English word “scrip” representing a certificate or substitute for currency in which the payer and payee recognize its value, and the Greek word “philos” meaning to love, and has grown to include thousands of collectors worldwide.

• Overview of American Stock Exchange History - 23 December 2008

Stock exchanges all over the world continue to undergo changes in an effort to keep up with rapidly advancing technology. The stock markets of today bear little resemblance to the first stock market in recorded history – the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The Dutch East India Company established the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, then known as the Amsterdam Bourse, in 1602 and became the first company to issue stocks and bonds through the exchange.

• Investors Anxious for “Big Three” Decision in Last Full Week of 2008 Trading - 15 December 2008

With Monday marking the start of the last full week of trading for 2008, U.S. stock market investors are likely to be focusing their attention on developments regarding Detroit’s Big Three automakers and the possibility of a central bank interest rate cut. They will also be considering earnings reports from influential companies such as Goldman Sachs and Oracle and reports on housing, consumer pricing and manufacturing.

• U.S. Markets Respond Positively to Proposed Infrastructure Projects - 9 December 2008

With a second straight day of significant gains on U.S. stock markets, growing numbers of investors are becoming more confident that the worst is past for stocks. News of President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed program for rebuilding the economy gave stock market players and the nation in general a reason to be optimistic that the current economic crisis can be overcome. On Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.46 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 3.84 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 4.14 percent.

• Will U.S. Investors Continue To Shrug Off Flow Of Bad News? - 8 December 2008

Friday’s U.S. stock market gains fueled hopes that the market may finally be bottoming out. While analysts are divided as to whether this is so, it certainly appears that investors are becoming somewhat accustomed to bad news and are trading anyway. At one point in Friday’s trading session the Dow was down 257 points, but rallied and ended the session with a gain of 3.1 percent, or 259 points to 8,635. The S&P 500 rose 3.7 percent, while the Nasdaq added 4.4 percent. The five-day decline for the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq was 2.2 percent, 2.2 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.

• Fed to Take Further Steps to Rescue Sinking Housing Markets - 5 December 2008

U.S. stocks took another tumble on Thursday with the major indexes each sliding more than 2.5 percent after a day of gains and losses. Investors have a host of concerns that are driving their buy and sell decisions, but the pervading sense of uncertainty won through in the end, with the session closing on a low. Executives from the Big Three automakers presented their case to a Senate panel on Thursday and will be speaking before the House panel on Friday in an effort to secure what they prefer to refer to as a “bridge loan” rather than a “bailout”. Oil prices dipping to an almost four-year low, a drop in gold and other metals, disconcerting unemployment figures, a dismal outlook on the housing market and gloomy retail reports all added to the late-in-the-day stock sell-off.

• Big Three Bailout, Weak Economic News Sets Markets See-Sawing But Closing on a High - 4 December 2008

With a stream of bad news, tempered by tidbits of good news, flowing to stock markets and resulting in volatile intraday trading, U.S. stocks nevertheless closed slightly higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2 percent, Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite index closed 2.9 percent higher. While historically a stock rally despite bad news is one of the characteristics of the market bottoming out, analysts are divided as to whether this is the case, with some suggesting that it is, at the very least, an indication that the market is stabilizing.

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