The World’s First Stock Exchange

Lodewijk Petram

eISBN: 9780231537322

2014 (304 pages 21 illustrations)

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Front Matter (pages 1-5)

Download Table of Contents
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Table of Contents (pages 6-10)

Download 1. A World-Famous Book
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1. A World-Famous Book (pages 10-16)

Download 2. A New Company
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2. A New Company (pages 16-44)

Download 3. Early Share Trading
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3. Early Share Trading (pages 44-60)

Download 4. Angry Shareholders
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4. Angry Shareholders (pages 60-86)

Download 5. Fraud
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5. Fraud (pages 86-109)

Download 6. The First Boom
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6. The First Boom (pages 109-131)

Download 7. Jewish Traders
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7. Jewish Traders (pages 131-152)

Download 8. Information
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8. Information (pages 152-174)

Download 9. Trading Clubs
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9. Trading Clubs (pages 174-193)

Download 10. Speculation
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10. Speculation (pages 193-211)

Download 11. Crisis
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11. Crisis (pages 211-237)

Download 12. The World-Famous Book Again
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12. The World-Famous Book Again (pages 237-246)

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Epilogue (pages 246-254)

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Acknowledgments and Overview of Literature and Sources (pages 254-268)

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Notes (pages 268-284)

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Glossary (pages 284-288)

Download Bibliography
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Bibliography (pages 288-294)

Download Index
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Index (pages 294-306)

The World’s First Stock Exchange

The launch of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 initiated Amsterdam’s transformation from a regional market town into a dominant financial center. The Company introduced easily transferable shares, and within days buyers had begun to trade them. Soon the public was engaging in a variety of complex transactions, including forwards, futures, options, and bear raids, and by 1680, the techniques deployed in the Amsterdam market were as sophisticated as any we practice today.

Lodewijk Petram’s eye-opening history demystifies financial instruments by linking today’s products to yesterday’s innovations, tying the market’s operation to the behavior of individuals and the workings of the world around them. Traveling back to seventeenth-century Amsterdam, Petram visits the harbor and other places where merchants met to strike deals. He bears witness to the goings-on at a notary’s office and sits in on the consequential proceedings of a courtroom. He describes in detail the main players, investors, shady characters, speculators, and domestic servants and other ordinary folk, who all played a role in the development of the market and its crises. His history clarifies concerns that investors still struggle with today, such as fraud, the value of information, trust and the place of honor, managing diverging expectations, and balancing risk, and does so in a way that is vivid, relatable, and critical to understanding our contemporary financial predicament.

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Table of Contents

The World’s First Stock Exchange

Author(s): Petram, Lodewijk
Abstract:

The launch of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 initiated Amsterdam’s transformation from a regional market town into a dominant financial center. The Company introduced easily transferable shares, and within days buyers had begun to trade them. Soon the public was engaging in a variety of complex transactions, including forwards, futures, options, and bear raids, and by 1680, the techniques deployed in the Amsterdam market were as sophisticated as any we practice today.

Lodewijk Petram’s eye-opening history demystifies financial instruments by linking today’s products to yesterday’s innovations, tying the market’s operation to the behavior of individuals and the workings of the world around them. Traveling back to seventeenth-century Amsterdam, Petram visits the harbor and other places where merchants met to strike deals. He bears witness to the goings-on at a notary’s office and sits in on the consequential proceedings of a courtroom. He describes in detail the main players, investors, shady characters, speculators, and domestic servants and other ordinary folk, who all played a role in the development of the market and its crises. His history clarifies concerns that investors still struggle with today, such as fraud, the value of information, trust and the place of honor, managing diverging expectations, and balancing risk, and does so in a way that is vivid, relatable, and critical to understanding our contemporary financial predicament.