In late 2006, Casey Serin, a 24-year-old internet entrepreneur from Sacramento, owned eight houses. His annual income was roughly $30,000. Banks approved his mortgage applications without verifying his earnings. Eight times in a row. On one application he declared income three times higher than reality, and nobody checked. Within two years he lost everything. His … Read more
Pets.com spent $300 million in nine months. It sold dog food online at prices lower than what it paid suppliers. Its mascot, a sock puppet dog with a microphone, appeared in a Super Bowl ad and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The IPO launched in February 2000 at $11 per share. Nine months later the … Read more
October 30, 1989. Mitsubishi Estate paid $1.4 billion for Rockefeller Center — the heart of America’s most iconic capitalist symbol in Manhattan. The Japanese press celebrated. The American press panicked. Newsweek ran a cover showing Japanese buyers purchasing the Statue of Liberty. Six years later, Mitsubishi surrendered Rockefeller Center to its creditors, having lost nearly … Read more
Jesse Livermore made $100 million on October 29, 1929. In a single day. While all of America was losing its savings, he was shorting the market and holding the largest speculative position in the country. The press called him the “Wall Street Bear.” He was the smartest man in the room. Eleven years later he … Read more
George Hudson, son of a York cobbler, controlled a third of all British railways by 1844. They called him the “Railway King.” Parliament sought his counsel. Aristocrats invited him to dinner. The shares he controlled rose 500 percent in a year. Three years later he was bankrupt, expelled from Parliament, charged with fraud. He died … Read more
Isaac Newton bought South Sea Company shares in early 1720. He sold at a profit — £7,000, a solid return. Enough for his brain, but not for his nerves. Watching the price climb further, he couldn’t resist and bought back in near the peak. He lost £20,000 sterling. In today’s money, roughly $4 million. The … Read more
Semper Augustus. A white tulip streaked with red flames, weighing a third of an ounce. In January 1637, a single bulb sold for 10,000 guilders — the price of a house on Amsterdam’s finest canal. Thirty-seven years of a skilled craftsman’s wages. For the same amount you could buy eight fat pigs, a ton of … Read more
Nobody ever says “I’m in a bubble.” From inside, everything looks logical. There’s a narrative. There are numbers. Smart people explain why this time is different. Friends are already making money. Articles, conferences, funds, products — all confirming the thesis. And underneath it all, the fear that if you don’t get on the train now, … Read more