Geometric Brownian Trajectory Contour

As a test case for The Bubble Index Contour, I fed it a simple geometric Brownian trajectory. You can see from the contour graph that there are many signals produced. And they are all weak signals with the peaks never exceeding more than 60 in value. It is interesting to compare these results to previous examples: such as Tesla, Bitcoin, and The Bubbles of 1720. In these examples, The Bubble Index reaches much larger magnitudes (typically in the 1,000s) and there is a visually simple structure. The structures seen in Tesla, Bitcoin, and The Bubbles of 1720 have common features. On the other hand, the Geometric Brownian Contour has somewhat irregular patterns. My hunch is that asset prices generated by networks of human traders are far from random and in fact have much in common with Prigogine’s idea of time irreversibility through correlation formation in a network.

As a side note, the range of the geometric price path is 89 to 250.

Download The Bubble Index Contour: Geometric Brownian Trajectory

The Bubble Index Contour: Geometric Brownian

Vienna Stock Market Crash of 1873

The Vienna stock market crash of 1873 would provide an excellent source of price data to test The Bubble Index. Below you will find a summary result of the crash found in The Parliamentary Papers: House of Commons and Command, Volume 67 (pgs. 1216-7). Unfortunately, the full data does not seem readily available in one source. It seems that the price data is scattered across various German/Austrian finance journals and other non-florin based texts like The Economist (pounds sterling). It would be richly rewarding to find that the price data has survived two world wars. In my free time I will try to piece together all the quotes from various listed companies on the Vienna Stock Exchange during the period of 1865 – 1875. This should provide additional research material to study the formation of stock bubbles and crashes. No promises…

Name March 1873 – Capital Paid up, per share Paid in Capital Units Share Price on 15th March 1873 (florins) Price on 31st December 1873 (florins) December 1873 – Capital Paid up, per share Nominal Price change (March – December 1873) % change (March – December 1873)
Anglo-Austrian Bank 120 silver 317 132 120 -185 -58.36%
Austro-Egyptian Bank 80 silver 176 101 80 -75 -42.61%
Austro-Ottoman Bank 80 silver 136 55 80 -81 -59.56%
Austro-Turkish Bank 80 silver 130 26 80 -104 -80.00%
General Building Society 80 currency 276 54 160 -222 -80.43%
Vienna Building Society 100 currency 308 76 100 -232 -75.32%
Moneychangers’ Building Bank 40 currency 77 8 40 -69 -89.61%
Leopoldstadt Building Society 100 currency 118 24 100 -94 -79.66%
Military Building Society 100 currency 130 30 100 -100 -76.92%
Lower Austrian Building Society 100 currency 118 15 100 -103 -87.29%
Styrian Building Society 40 currency 55 16 50 -39 -70.91%
Building Shares Society 80 currency 153 8 80 -145 -94.77%
Trieste Building Society 50 currency 53 30 50 -23 -43.40%
Building and Rental Society 100 currency 131 26 100 -105 -80.15%
Bank for Building and Communication 80 currency 124 20 80 -104 -83.87%
Baden and Vocslau Building Society 40 currency 90 5 60 -85 -94.44%
Bank of Exchange Operations 200 currency 290 32 200 -258 -88.97%
Stock Exchange Bank for Arbitrations 200 currency 285 1 200 -284 -99.65%
Stock Exchange Credit Bank 80 currency 181 1 80 -180 -99.45%
Stock Moneychangers’ Bank 200 currency 220 0 200 -220 -100.00%
Bank for Association of Capital 200 currency 318 10 200 -308 -96.86%
Central Mortgage Bank 80 currency 126 0 80 -126 -100.00%
Vienna Commission Bank 200 currency 219 0 200 -219 -100.00%
Vienna Commercial Bank 80 currency 167 15 80 -152 -91.02%
Credit Bank 160 currency 340 237 160 -103 -30.29%
Vienna Credit Bank 200 currency 270 96 200 -174 -64.44%
Deposit Bank 80 currency 123 0 80 -123 -100.00%
Domus Bank 100 currency 112 0 100 -112 -100.00%
Danube Stream Navigation Company 525 currency 700 514 525 -186 -26.57%
Securities Bank 200 currency 256 0 200 -256 -100.00%
Lower Austrian Discount Company 500 currency 1165 885 500 -280 -24.03%
Franco-Austrian Bank 80 currency 150 29 80 -121 -80.67%
Trading Bank 200 currency 320 60 200 -260 -81.25%
Hypothecated Rental Bank 80 currency 278 11 100 -267 -96.04%
Industrial Bank 100 currency 130 5 100 -125 -96.15%
Industrial and Mortgage Credit Bank 80 currency 144 19 100 -125 -86.81%
Italian Austrian Bank 80 currency 205 30 80 -175 -85.37%
Leopoldstadt Bank 200 currency 232 50 200 -182 -78.45%
Lombard Association Bank 200 currency 275 63 200 -212 -77.09%
Provincial Bank Association 140 currency 203 103 200 -100 -49.26%
National Bank Association 500 currency 983 1026 500 43 4.37%
Austrian General Bank 200 currency 375 34 200 -341 -90.93%
Intervention Bank 80 currency 145 35 80 -110 -75.86%
Prague Banking Association 80 currency 129 36 80 -93 -72.09%
Installments and Rentals Bank 120 currency 123 30 120 -93 -75.61%
Estates Bank 100 currency 136 15 100 -121 -88.97%
Maritime Commercial Bank 80 currency 105 32 80 -73 -69.52%
Savings and Lombard Bank 200 currency 230 20 200 -210 -91.30%
Union Bank 200 currency 253 107 200 -146 -57.71%
Association Bank 80 currency 216 16 80 -200 -92.59%
Trading Association 200 currency 228 110 200 -118 -51.75%
Vienna Banking Association 80 currency 402 60 80 -342 -85.07%
Vienna Stock Exchange Bank 80 currency 236 0 80 -236 -100.00%
Vienna Moneychangers’ Office Bank 80 currency 265 0 80 -265 -100.00%
Vienna Change Bank 80 currency 321 0 80 -321 -100.00%
Vienna Change Association 80 currency 231 76 80 -155 -67.10%
Elbemuhl Paper Manufacturing Company 100 currency 127 60 100 -67 -52.76%
Inneberg Iron Works 180 currency 351 175 200 -176 -50.14%
Wienerberg Brick Kiln Company 120 currency 265 130 120 -135 -50.94%
Lower Austrian Building Association 80 currency 118 24 80 -94 -79.66%
Union Building Society 80 currency 174 44 80 -130 -74.71%
Vienna Building Society 60 currency 128 24 70 -104 -81.25%
Vienna Parceling Building Society 100 currency 174 21 100 -153 -87.93%
Tramway Building Society 100 currency 161 46 100 -115 -71.43%
Mountain Railway Company 100 currency 258 28 100 -230 -89.15%
Francis Joseph Railway 200 silver 224 211 -13 -5.80%
Charles Louis Railway 210 currency 225 225 0 0.00%
Elizabeth Railway 210 currency 246 221 -25 -10.16%
Crown Prince Rudolf Railway 200 silver 170 156 -14 -8.24%
Northern Railway 1050 currency 2280 2100 -180 -7.89%
Southern Railway 200 silver 186 167 -19 -10.22%
North-West Railway 200 silver 217 194 -23 -10.60%
Hungarian North-East Railway 200 silver 156 98 -58 -37.18%
Hungarian East Railway 200 silver 132 40 -92 -69.70%
Hungarian Western Railway 200 silver 173 132 -41 -23.70%
Kaschau-Oderberg Railway 200 silver 174 134 -40 -22.99%
Lemberg-Czernowitz Railway 200 silver 152 130 -22 -14.47%
Transylvania Railway 200 silver 175 152 -23 -13.14%
States Railway 200 silver 332 339 7 2.11%
Theiss Railway 200 silver 242 195 -47 -19.42%
Tramway Company 200 currency 358 154 -204 -56.98%
Omnibus Company 100 currency 138 42 -96 -69.57%
Average % Change -65.61%
Source:Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, Volume 67; pages 1216 – 1217 Average % Change – Railways -16.76%
Average % Change Excluding Railways -76.54%

The Dutch East India Company – VOC – 17th Century

I recently read an article which compared the inflation adjusted value of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to modern mega-corporations today. The peak inflation adjusted value of VOC was calculated to be around $7 trillion USD!! Quite ridiculous… Indeed, so I wanted to analyze the price data of VOC with The Bubble Index. Thanks to the prices found by L.O. Petram here, the graphs below were produced (meaningful graphs are the 1764, 2520, 5040, and 10080 day indices).

It is noteworthy to point out that the 10,080 Day index peaked on November 13, 1648 — approximately six months after the Peace of Münster was signed. The independence of the United Netherlands from the Spanish Crown occurred at a peak in the stock price of VOC and was followed by a large correction in subsequent years.

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USA – Panic of 1857

The Bubble Index: USA (1790 – Present) (10080 days) peaks in early 1857. I say “early 1857” because the actual date, February 15th, was only an approximate date used to simulate the daily data. And as American historians know, the Panic of 1857 was disastrous and preceded the American Civil War. Note: The daily data is simulated based on yearly data points provided by the Davis Industrial Production Index.

Observations and Updates – USA (1790 – Present)

Looking at the 10080 day window of The Bubble Index: DJIA, there is a low in 1948 and a peak in 1968, which is followed by another low in 1988; the final peak displayed is reached in November 2007. It is clear that there is a 20 year upswing followed by a 20 year down-swing. Extrapolating this trend, the end of the current down-swing will be in 2028, give or take a year or two. This will be followed by a peak around 2048. What this means, I am not sure; however, in the time period between 1968 and 1988, the DJIA was relatively flat. I could speculate and say that the same will be the case for the DJIA for the period from 2008 to 2028. Then, in the period 2028 – 2048, a new large scale bull market will emerge. (UPDATE: the data from 1790 – Present show that there is not a predictable pattern)

Currently, I am working on extending the DJIA Index from 1896-Present to 1790-Present using economic indicators and stochastic simulation. This will allow The Bubble Index to estimate daily levels in the time range from 1790-1896. Although the data will be simulated and artificial at the daily level, it will be made in such a way to fit the industrial production data going back to 1790. This will allow the creation of a reliable extension of the longer day window indices (1260, 1764, 2520, 5040, 10080 days) back to the 19th century.

UPDATE:

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