Panic of 1901

Last updated

The Panic of 1901 was the first stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange, caused in part by struggles between E. H. Harriman, Jacob Schiff, and J. P. Morgan/James J. Hill for the financial control of the Northern Pacific Railway. The stock cornering was orchestrated by James Stillman and William Rockefeller's First National City Bank financed with Standard Oil money. After reaching a compromise, the moguls formed the Northern Securities Company. As a result of the panic, thousands of small investors were ruined. [1]

Contents

Key players

One of the key players in this was Harriman, who "by 1898…was chairman of the executive committee of the Union Pacific and he ruled without dissent. But he speculated heavily with Union Pacific holdings, and his attempt to monopolize the Chicago rail market led to the Panic of 1901." [2]

Causes

One of the causes of this stock market crash was Harriman's effort to gain control of Northern Pacific by buying up its stock. The panic began when the market crashed during the afternoon of May 8. [3] Investors did not see it coming, but by 1:00 pm, the decline in the market was beginning to show. First came the gradual decline in Burlington stock. It had been high all morning, but suddenly a sharp weakness came about. Prices of stocks such as St. Paul, Missouri Pacific, and Union Pacific began to fall. Soon enough, the whole market was drowning. Investors who had once held on tightly to their stocks were selling out of panic. Others caught on and an overwhelming cry of "Sell! Sell! Sell!" was heard throughout the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. [4] During the selling, a rumor spread among traders that Arthur Housman, broker for J.P. Morgan, had died. Housman, the head of A.A. Housman & Company, was brought to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to assure traders that J.P. Morgan was still doing business. [5]

Effects

Affected stocks included St. Paul, Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific, Amalgamated Copper, Sugar, Atchison, and United States Steel. However, not all stocks declined: Northern Pacific saw a net advance of 16+12 points.[ citation needed ]

Results

As a result of this crash, Harriman and Hill joined forces to form a holding company, the Northern Securities Company, to control the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Burlington. [Wolff 2003] This company was shortly shut down under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 [6] (see Northern Securities Co. v. United States ).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Stock Exchange</span> American stock exchange

The New York Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock exchange</span> Organization that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade securities

A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of such securities and instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Securities traded on a stock exchange include stock issued by listed companies, unit trusts, derivatives, pooled investment products and bonds. Stock exchanges often function as "continuous auction" markets with buyers and sellers consummating transactions via open outcry at a central location such as the floor of the exchange or by using an electronic trading platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock market</span> Place where stocks are traded

A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks, which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies that are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Investments are usually made with an investment strategy in mind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock market crash</span> Sudden widespread decline of stock prices

A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often follow speculation and economic bubbles.

A market trend is a perceived tendency of the financial markets to move in a particular direction over time. Analysts classify these trends as secular for long time-frames, primary for medium time-frames, and secondary for short time-frames. Traders attempt to identify market trends using technical analysis, a framework which characterizes market trends as predictable price tendencies within the market when price reaches support and resistance levels, varying over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short (finance)</span> Practice of selling securities or other financial instruments that are not currently owned

In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the market value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of the more common long position, where the investor will profit if the market value of the asset rises. An investor that sells an asset short is, as to that asset, a short seller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wall Street Crash of 1929</span> American stock market crash

The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash or the Crash of '29, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It began in September, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) collapsed, and ended in mid-November. The pivotal role of the 1920s' high-flying bull market and the subsequent catastrophic collapse of the NYSE in late 1929 is often highlighted in explanations of the causes of the worldwide Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Monday (1987)</span> Global stock market crash

Black Monday was the global, severe and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. Worldwide losses were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. The severity of the crash sparked fears of extended economic instability or even a reprise of the Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Pacific Railway</span> Defunct transcontinental railroad company in the northwest United States (1864-1970)

The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly 40 million acres of land grants, which it used to raise money in Europe for construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short squeeze</span> Rapid increase in the price of a stock owing primarily to technical factors

In the stock market, a short squeeze is a rapid increase in the price of a stock owing primarily to an excess of short selling of a stock rather than underlying fundamentals. A short squeeze occurs when demand has increased relative to supply because short sellers have to buy stock to cover their short positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panic of 1907</span> Three-week financial crisis in the United States

The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange suddenly fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. The panic occurred during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs affecting banks and trust companies. The 1907 panic eventually spread throughout the nation when many state and local banks and businesses entered bankruptcy. The primary causes of the run included a retraction of market liquidity by a number of New York City banks and a loss of confidence among depositors, exacerbated by unregulated side bets at bucket shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Livermore</span> American stock trader (1877–1940)

Jesse Lauriston Livermore was an American stock trader. He is considered a pioneer of day trading and was the basis for the main character of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, a best-selling book by Edwin Lefèvre. At one time, Livermore was one of the richest people in the world; however, at the time of his suicide, he had liabilities greater than his assets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Securities Company</span> American railroad trust company

The Northern Securities Company was a short-lived American railroad trust formed in 1901 by E. H. Harriman, James J. Hill, J.P. Morgan and their associates. The company controlled the Northern Pacific Railway; Great Northern Railway; Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; and other associated lines. It was capitalized at $400 million, and Hill served as president.

The Kennedy Slide of 1962, also known as the Flash Crash of 1962, is the term given to the stock market decline from December 1961 to June 1962 during the Presidential term of John F. Kennedy. After the market experienced decades of growth since the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the stock market peaked during the end of 1961 and plummeted during the first half of 1962. During this period, the S&P 500 declined 22.5%, and the stock market did not experience a stable recovery until after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.7%, down 34.95, the second-largest point decline then on record.

Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 193 U.S. 197 (1904), was a case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1903. The Court ruled 5-4 against the stockholders of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroad companies, which had essentially formed a monopoly and to dissolve the Northern Securities Company.

E. A. Pierce & Co. was a securities brokerage firm based in New York City. Founded as A. A. Housman & Co., the firm was renamed for Edward A. Pierce in 1927. In 1930, following the stock market crash of 1929 E. A. Pierce acquired the brokerage business of Merrill Lynch. Ten years later, Merrill Lynch merged with E. A. Pierce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Elliott Perkins</span> American businessman

Charles Elliott Perkins was an American businessman and president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He was so well respected that historian Richard Overton wrote, "From the time that Charles Elliott Perkins became vice president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy [1876] ... until he resigned as president in 1901, he was the Burlington."

The 2015-2016 Chinese stock market turbulence began with the popping of a stock market bubble on 12 June 2015 and ended in early February 2016. A third of the value of A-shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was lost within one month of the event. Major aftershocks occurred around 27 July and 24 August's "Black Monday". By 8–9 July 2015, the Shanghai stock market had fallen 30 percent over three weeks as 1,400 companies, or more than half listed, filed for a trading halt in an attempt to prevent further losses. Values of Chinese stock markets continued to drop despite efforts by the government to reduce the fall. After three stable weeks the Shanghai index fell again by 8.48 percent on 24 August, marking the largest fall since 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 1901</span> List of events that occurred in May 1901

The following events occurred in May 1901:

The 1992 Indian stock market scam was a market manipulation carried out by Harshad Shantilal Mehta with other bankers and politicians on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The scam caused significant disruption to the stock market of India, defrauding investors of over ten million USD.

References

  1. FDIC: Learning Bank
  2. AmericanHeritage.com / The American Heritage Archived 2007-12-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Jacob Schiff And The Northern Pacific Corner | AMERICAN HERITAGE". www.americanheritage.com. American Heritage Publishing Co. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  4. The History Box | The Panic Of 1901-Market Fails, Panic Reigns-Part I
  5. A.A. Housman Dead; Ill Only Three Days; Known as 'Morgan Broker'. New York Times, August 22, 1907,
  6. American Experience | Streamliners | People & Events

Further reading