Tham khảo tài liệu 'the four pillars of investing: lessons for building a winning portfolio_7', tài chính - ngân hàng, tài chính doanh nghiệp phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | Tops A History of Manias 135 England sea captain docked in England with 32 tons of silver raised from a Spanish pirate ship enriching himself his crew and his backers beyond their wildest dreams. This captured the imagination of the investing public and before long numerous patents were granted for various types of diving engines followed soon after by the flotation of even more numerous diving company stock issues. Almost all of these patents were worthless submitted for the express purpose of creating interest in their company s stock. The ensuing ascent and collapse of the diving company stocks culminating about 1689 could be said to be the first tech bubble. Daniel Defoe of Robinson Crusoe fame was the treasurer of one of those companies. His insider knowledge of their workings did not prevent his bankruptcy one of the most spectacular of the age. The diving companies never developed any credible operations let alone earnings. This quickly became apparent to investors and the madness was soon over. We don t have any records of exact prices and returns but it s a sure bet that the eventual result of investment in all of these companies was total loss. It was very similar in this regard to the dot-com craze. Aside from Phipps enterprise no diving company had actually ever turned a profit and it was not immediately clear how any of these companies could ensure access to a steady stream of treasure-laden wrecks. In modern parlance all they had was a dubious business model. For a few months the shares of these companies rose dramatically. There was nothing unusual per se even three centuries ago about the raising of capital for enterprises with questionable prospects. There was even nothing untoward about the shares of those enterprises rising temporarily in price. This is after all how capital markets work. If you have trouble with the concept that such highly dubious enterprises can command a rational price consider the following example Assume that your neighbor
