Black Monday, 19 October 1987. I can still remember where I was. I was 11 years old and sitting on the (brown Chesterfield) couch in the living room of the home I grew up in, watching television with my parents. After our usual ‘guess the commercial’, the 8 o’clock evening news came on. The impact on me of the opening image of stock traders in despair was not as big as when I saw images of hunger in Africa, but it upset me quite a bit. While my parents tried to comfort me that it was only very wealthy people that lost (some) money, it felt a lot worse. It also strengthened my feeling and desire that I wanted to become part of these financial markets (alongside fighting hunger in the world).
36 years later, we are running our own Apple Tree Fund. Low risk, solid returns. And with our profits, we try to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
As a reminder, Black Monday refers to the catastrophic worldwide stock market crash on 19 Oct 1987, when the DJIA fell 508 points, or 22.6%, in a single day. It remains the largest one-day decline ever. Other major stock markets saw similarly huge declines.
Sources: NYT, Apple Tree Capital Partners
Comments