Charles Dow Quotes

102 Charles Dow Quotes

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Stocks fluctuate together, but prices are controlled by values in the long run.
Charles Dow

Any man who claims to know what the market is going to do any more than to say that he thinks this or that will occur as a result of certain specified conditions is unworthy of trust as a broker.
Charles Dow

When… men of little or no capital and little or no reputation advertise boldly in the Sunday papers that they desire discretionary accounts from strangers and will, for a commission of one-eight percent, guarantee profits ranging from 25 to 250 percent per annum, commission houses have but one word with which to describe the proposition…
Charles Dow

Guarantee profits ranging from 25 to 250 percent per annum… and people of practical experience in Wall Street are amazed at the credulity of those who send their money to be placed in such accounts and who subsequently appear in the company of those who wait in the outer rooms of closed offices over the rascality which has robbed them of their hard earnings.
Charles Dow

[In approximately 1896, published in 1920 after his death in 1902] Speculation is not at its best a simple and easy road to wealth, but speculation through people who advertise guaranteed profits and who call for participation in blind pools is as certain a method of loss as could possibly be discovered.
Charles Dow

In cases of panic, or the inability of brokers to furnish more collateral, loans are frequently sold out…
Charles Dow

A 10 point margin was of no use at a time when stocks were falling 10 points in five minutes.
Charles Dow

It appears to take ordinarily five or six years for public confidence to go from the point of too little hope to the point of too much confidence and then five or six years more to get back to the condition of hopelessness.
Charles Dow

The years in which commercial crises have occurred follow: 1701, 1711, 1712, 1731-2, 1742, 1752, 1763, 1772-3, 1783, 1804-5, 1815, 1825, 1836, 1847, 1857, 1866 and 1878.
Charles Dow

The first crisis in the United States during the nineteenth century came in 1814, and was precipitated by the capture of Washington by the British on the 24th of August in that year. The Philadelphia and New York banks suspended payments, and for a time the crisis was acute. The difficulties leading up to this period were the great falling off in foreign trade caused by the embargo and non-intercourse act of 1808, the excess of public expenditures over public receipts, and the creation of a large number of state banks taking the place of the old United States bank. Many of these state banks lacked capital and issued currency without sufficient security.
Charles Dow



There was a near approach to a crisis in 1819 as the result of a tremendous contraction of bank circulation. The previous increases of bank issues had promoted speculation, the contraction caused a serious fall in the prices of commodities and real estate. This, however, was purely a money panic as far as its causes were concerned.
Charles Dow

The European crisis in 1825 caused a diminished demand for American products and led to lower prices and some money stringency in 1826. The situation, however did not become very serious and was more in the nature of an interruption to progress than a reversal of conditions.
Charles Dow

The year 1837 brought a great commercial panic, for which there was abundant cause. There had been rapid industrial and commercial growth, with a multitude of enterprises established ahead of the time. Crops were deficient, and breadstuffs were imported. The refusal of the government to extend the charter of the United States Bank had caused a radical change in the banking business of the country, while the withdrawal of public deposits and their lodgment with state banks had given the foundation for abnormal speculation.
Charles Dow

The panic in Europe in 1847 exerted but little influence in this country, although there was a serious loss in specie, and the Mexican war had some effect in checking enterprises. These effects, however, were neutralized somewhat by large exports of breadstuffs and later by the discovery of gold in 1848-9.
Charles Dow

There was a panic of the first magnitude in 1857, following the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Company in August. This panic came unexpectedly, although prices had been falling for some months. There had been very large railroad building, and the proportion of specie held by banks was very small in proportion to their loans and deposits. One of the features of this period was the great number of failures. The banks generally suspended payments in October.
Charles Dow

The London panic in 1866 precipitated by the failure of Overend, Gurney & Co., was followed by a heavy fall in prices in the Stock Exchange here. In April there had been a corner in Michigan Southern and rampant speculation generally, from which the relapse was rather more than normal.
Charles Dow

The panic of September, 1873, was a commercial as well as a Stock Exchange panic. It was the outcome of an enormous conversion of floating into fixed capital. Business had been expanded on an enormous scale and the supply of money became insufficient for the demands made upon it. Credit collapsed and the depression was extremely serious.
Charles Dow

The year 1884 brought a Stock Exchange smash but not a commercial crisis. The failure of the Marine Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Grant & Ward in May was accompanied by a large fall in prices and a general check which was felt throughout the year. The Trunk Line war, which lasted for several years, was one of the factors in this period.
Charles Dow

The panic of 1893 was the outcome of a number of causes – uncertainty in regard to the currency situation, the withdrawal of foreign investments and the fear of radical tariff legislation. The anxiety in regard to the maintenance of the gold standard was undoubtedly the chief factor, as it bore upon many others.
Charles Dow

[In around 1896] This decade seems to be the one for the small crisis instead of the large one…
Charles Dow



A stock operator should not deal in stocks unless he thinks he knows their value…
Charles Dow

In the long run, the prices of stocks adjust themselves to the return on the investment…
Charles Dow



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