In this absorbing, smart, and accessible blend of economic and cultural history, Scott Nations, a longtime trader, financial engineer, and CNBC contributor, takes us on a journey through the five significant stock market crashes in the past century to reveal how they defined the United States today.
The Panic of 1907: When the Knickerbocker Trust Company failed, after a brazen attempt to manipulate the stock market led to a disastrous run on the banks, the Dow lost nearly half its value in weeks. Only billionaire J.P. Morgan was able to save the stock market.
Black Tuesday (1929): As the newly created Federal Reserve System repeatedly adjusted interest rates in all the wrong ways, investment trusts, the darlings of that decade, became the catalyst that caused the bubble to burst, and the Dow fell dramatically, leading swiftly to the Great Depression.
Black Monday (1987): When "portfolio insurance," a new tool meant to protect investments, instead led to increased losses, and corporate raiders drove stock prices above their real values, the Dow dropped an astonishing 22.6 percent in one day.
The Great Recession (2008): As homeowners began defaulting on mortgages, investment portfolios that contained them collapsed, bringing the nation's largest banks, much of the economy, and the stock market down with them.
The Flash Crash (2010): When one investment manager, using a runaway computer algorithm that was dangerously unstable and poorly understood, reacted to the economic turmoil in Greece, the stock market took an unprecedentedly sudden plunge, with the Dow shedding 998.5 points (roughly a trillion dollars in valuation) in just minutes.
The stories behind the great crashes are filled with drama, human foibles, and heroic rescues. Taken together they tell the larger story of a nation reaching enormous heights of financial power while experiencing precipitous dips that alter and reset a market where millions of Americans invest their savings, and on which they depend for their futures. Scott Nations vividly shows how each of these major crashes played a role in America's political and cultural fabric, each providing painful lessons that have strengthened us and helped us to build the nation we know today.
A History of the United States in Five Crashes clearly and compellingly illustrates the connections between these major financial collapses and examines the solid, clear-cut lessons they offer for preventing the next one.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (June 5, 2018)
Language: English
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
Reviews
“Absorbing. ... Nations’s stylish writing gives these stories of greed and fear a cliffhanger momentum.” (Financial Advisor Magazine)
“Timely. ... An eye-opening examination of the many ways money can be made and disappear.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Fascinating. ... Uniquely helpful.” (Publishers Weekly)
“A fast-paced narrative... Lively style... Entertaining and informative.” (Library Journal)
“Excellent. ... A pleasure to read.” (Wall Street Journal)
About The Author
Scott Nations is the president and chief investment officer of NationsShares, a division of Fortress Trading, Inc. Founded in 2002, NationsShares and Fortress grew out of Scott’s previous work leading proprietary equity index option trading firms.
NationsShares is the leader in creating option-enhanced indexes. Intended for ETFs and institutional investors, these products combine indexes and options in unique ways. Scott created the flagship Nations Enhanced Covered Call Indexes generate greater returns with less risk (as measured by standard deviation of returns) than the underlying indexes. The Nations Enhanced Collar Indexes generate option-enhanced returns without sacrificing appreciation, unlike all existing covered call products. These two products are covered by patents pending.
Scott is also creator of NationsShares suite of option cost indexes including VolDex® (ticker symbol VOLI) which measures implied volatility on the S&P 500, SkewDex® which measures option skew, an important gauge of risk aversion, and TailDex® which quantifies how much investors are willing to pay to protect their portfolios. NationsShares has licensed VolDex® to the International Securities Exchange and ISE has received SEC approval to list options on VolDex®.
Scott is a Contributor to CNBC and can be seen on-air frequently discussing markets and how to use options and futures profitably.
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