Panic, Prosperity, and Progress

A detailed guide to financial market performance during financial crises With the financial markets seemingly careening from one crisis to another, it's vital for today’s investors and traders to have an historical perspective on market performance during times of great turmoil. In this book, Tim Knight provides an exhaustive analysis of financial market behavior prior, during, and following tumultuous events since 1600. Making copious use of charts and basic technical analysis, Knight demonstrates how external shocks tend to create extreme reactions in the financial markets and how these predictable reactions provide opportunities for investors and traders to profit. Knight traverses five centuries of financial market history, from Tulipmania in the 1600s to the contemporary sovereign debt crisis. He looks at each event from the prism of the financial markets, examining the market climate prior to the event, during the event, and following the event. Draws essential lessons from history providing investors and traders with guidelines to better navigate markets in today's tumultuous times Offers valuable insights on understanding and anticipating market responses to shocks and crises Companion website with a Q&A section contains charts from key moments in past financial crises and asks readers to choose whether to go long, short, or step aside If you're looking for a better way to make it today's dynamic markets, look no further than this timely book.

Preface ix Chapter 1 Tulip Madness 1 Chapter 2 The Mississippi Scheme 9 Chapter 3 The South Sea Bubble 29 Chapter 4 American Revolution in the Colonies 37 Chapter 5 The Panic of 1837 49 Chapter 6 California Gold 63 Chapter 7 The American Civil War 75 Chapter 8 The Panic of 1893 97 Chapter 9 The Rich Man’s Panic of 1907 113 Chapter 10 Billion-Dollar Bread—The Weimar Hyperinflation 131 Chapter 11 The Roaring Twenties 145 Chapter 12 The Great Depression 157 Chapter 13 Postwar Prosperity 189 Chapter 14 Energy, Politics, and War 199 Chapter 15 Precious Metals and the Destruction of a Billionaire 219 Chapter 16 Latin American Debt Crisis 245 Chapter 17 The Reagan Revolution and Crash 255 Chapter 18 The Rising and Setting Sun of Japan 269 Chapter 19 The Savings and Loan Debacle 295 Chapter 20 Fall of the Soviet Union 309 Chapter 21 The Asian Contagion 321 Chapter 22 Russian Crisis of 1998 339 Chapter 23 Captured by the Net 353 Chapter 24 The Great Recession 415 Chapter 25 History in the Making 443 About the Author 449 Index 451