Category: Trivia

Crazy Woman Holding Your Money?

by Fred Fuld III

Supposed you asked someone where they put there money and they said Crazy Woman, would you think they were crazy?

Well maybe they wouldn’t be.

There is actually a bank holding company called Crazy Woman Creek Bancorp Incorporated (CRZY), which you can buy stock in, by the way. It was founded in 1936 and is based in Buffalo, Wyoming.

How’s that for stock market trivia?

The stock trades over-the-counter on the Pink Sheets.

It trades at a very reasonable 6.11 times trailing earnings and pays a dividend withy a forward yield of 1.48%.

The company posted the third-best performance in their 87-year history, with an annualized return on equity (ROE) of 10.41%.

The net interest margin at September 30, 2023 of 3.51% is above the state average of 3.31%. 

As of September 30, 2023, the Tier 1 Leverage Ratio was 9.37%, which substantially exceeds the current definition for “well-capitalized” institutions. Also as of that date, the bank had no foreclosed or repossessed assets.

Would I be crazy for owning Crazy Woman shares?

If you want more investment trivia, check out the book.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

This Day Today in Business & Investment History: January 4

by Fred Fuld III

The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published in 1875.

The Stock Exchange in Vienna closes due to bank failures, contributing to the severity of the Great Depression in Europe in 1929.

Blackberry phones officially end service after a year-long transition to a software-based business model in 2022.

This Day Today in Business & Investment History

by Fred Fuld III

Apple Computer (AAPL) was incorporated in 1977.

The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, is established by the creator of the system in 2009.

The Bell Telephone Company (T) was chartered in Massachusetts by Alexander Graham Bell and his associates in 1876.

The Bank of Italy changes its name to Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association (BAC), solidifying its national expansion beyond its Californian roots in 1928.

IBM Corporation (IBM) introduces the IBM 1401, a pioneering transistorized computer designed for business applications in 1960.

The New York Stock Exchange introduces the Decimalization Plan, shifting stock prices from fractions to whole dollar amounts in 1970.

Sony Corporation (SONY) releases the Sony Walkman TPS-L2, the first commercially successful portable cassette player in 1981.

Podcast: Financial History, Investment Trivia and Antique Stock Certificates

Available at Stocks for Beginners

When and why did the CIA create a venture capital fund? How did a failed stockbroker become a literary giant? Fred Fuld III from Wall Street News Network discusses Financial History, Investment Trivia and Antique Stock Certificates.

Some of the topics covered in the discussion include:

– The Venture Capital Fund that the CIA created 

– The stock run by the FBI that had a box of clothes as its only asset 

– Bitcoin trivia 

– The first women-owned stock brokerage firm in 1870 

– Celebrity Stockbrokers including Jules Verne 

– The Skirt Length Index 

– The first marijuana stock 

You can listed to the podcast or read the transcript at Stocks for Beginners.

What is This ZBZZT Stock That Sells for $200,000 a Share

Uf you enter the stock symbol, ZBZZT, into various financial web sites, you will find that this so-called stock sells for $199,999.99 a share.

As a matter fo fact, one web site predicts that this stock will be  280,620 per share in one year and 563,219 in five years.

So what the heck is this ZBZZT?

It is actually a test symbol, used by NASDAQ. The official name for then “stock” is Test Pilot Test Stock Class B Common Stock.

So How Many Stocks Really Are There?

Have you ever wondered how many different stocks are available to investors? $3,000? $5,000? $10,000?

Well, here is the answer. First, according to NASDAQ, there are 3,274 stocks traded on NASDAQ. The same source says that there are 3,144 stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange and 358 American Stock Exchange traded stocks.

Now we get to the over-the-counter companies. This includes all the various levels of OTC stocks, Pink Sheet stocks, and Grey Market stocks. There are actually 17,355 stocks in all these categories, according to OTCMarkets.com.

Add these altogether and shat you get is a total of 24,131 stocks.

Dirty Words in SEC Stock Filings

When I have free time on my hands and have nothing better to do, I look for dirty words on Securities and Exchange filings. Just kidding!

Surprisingly, several stocks have filed forms with the SEC that has the “S” word and the “F” word hidden away. And these aren’t just obscure companies. Some of these are famous names.

Sometimes the word is a typo, sometimes it is quoting from a conversation, and some times the company really means to say it.

The “S” Word

One example is Shopify (SHOP). On its Exhibit 1.1 for the Form 40-F [2016 Annual InformationForm], the “S” word is shown in the Culture & Employees section.

Shopify

LendingClub (LC) has what appears to be a typo for an occupation on its Form 424B3.

LendingClub

The “F” Word

Time Warner Cable (TWX) had an interesting quote in its Form 425 filing.

Time Warner Cable

These are just a few examples from the large companies. There are a few other filings with interesting words from companies that are not as well known.

Shit, I realized I got through writing this whole article without using one dirty four letter word.

Trivia: The iPhone Name was Originally Owned by Cisco, Not Apple

Here is a bit of financial trivia for you.  Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), released its iPhone on Monday, December 18, 2006, which was a phone that connects to a home wireless network for making phone calls through the Internet using the Skype service. Skype was originally owned by eBay Inc. (EBAY)at the time and is now owned by Microsoft (MSFT).

It had been anticipated that Apple Computer Corp. (AAPL) would be using the iPhone name back then, but it had been registered by Cisco in 2000. The iPhone trademark is now owned by Apple.

More info about the “first” iPhone release can be found here, an article from bizjournals back in 2006.