Image Credit: Edward Matthew Ward, “The South Sea Bubble” (1847), Tate Britain
Back in Business is a new, occasional column that puts the present day in perspective by looking at business history and those who shaped it. Read the first installment here. Mr. Zweig’s Intelligent Investor column will return next week.
A hot stock doubles and then doubles again in a matter of weeks. Thousands of people who have never invested in their lives suddenly try to beat the market.
Read the rest of the column
This article was originally published on The Wall Street Journal.
Further reading
Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor
Jason Zweig, The Devil’s Financial Dictionary
Jason Zweig, Your Money and Your Brain
Jason Zweig, The Little Book of Safe Money
South Sea Bubble 1720 Project, Yale School of Management’s International Center for Finance
South Sea Bubble Resources, Baker Library, Harvard Business School