On February 8, 1971, the NASDAQ stock market index opened for the first time. This quiz is all about stocks and stock markets.

Of bulls and bears

1 Which city’s stock exchange was started in 1792 when 24 stockbrokers signed an agreement that, according to legend, happened under the shade of a buttonwood tree?

2 While there is some debate about the oldest stock exchange, with most evidence pointing to the Dutch East Indies company, which is regarded as the oldest stock exchange in Asia, established in 1875?

3 Who or what joined the 3,200 kg, 11-ft tall Charging Bull, on March 7, 2017?

4 On April 28, 1992, the BSE experienced a fall of 12.77 per cent, the largest in its history, primarily because of the investigation into the activities of Growmore Investments. Who was the best-known promoter of Growmore?

5 Very few companies have the privilege of hanging a single letter ticker symbol on the NYSE. Which company has the ticker symbol ‘F?’

6 From the following stock market ticker symbol changes, explain what happened. CPQ and HWP got together and became HPQ?

7 If Petro China in 2007 became the first company on the planet to have a market cap of $1 trillion, which organisation in 2019 reached a valuation of $2 trillion on its second day of trading?

8 In India which company holds the record for the highest all-time share price of ₹81,246 in the BSE/NSE?

9 Though its activities were originally supposed to have started under a Neem tree in the 1830s, which Asian stock exchange officially started in 1908 and is usually known by the name of the neighbourhood Lyons Range?

10 If bulls operate by pushing up share prices and selling at a profit, and bears sell first and buy back when prices drop, which animal is associated with stock market operators who only buy Initial Public Offerings and sell as soon as the stock is listed?

Answers

1 The New York Stock Exchange. It is still known as the Buttonwood agreement

2 The Bombay Stock Exchange, on Dalal Street

3 Fearless Girl, a bronze sculpture designed by Kristen Visbal and commissioned by State Global Street Advisers to promote women’s empowerment, joined the Wall Street Bull

4 Harshad Mehta, who later also claimed that he had bribed Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.

5 The Ford Motor Company

6 The ticker symbols of Compaq and Hewlett Packard disappeared when the two firms merged, with the new firm taking the symbol HPQ.

7 Saudi Aramco

8 Madras Rubber Factory (MRF), a leading tyre manufacturer

9 The Calcutta Stock Exchange

10 Stag

BLINKJOY
 

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster; Twitter: @joybhattacharj

Published on February 6, 2020