Q 01/05

Which scientist lost a fortune in the South Sea Bubble and reportedly blamed 'the madness of people'?

A) Edmond Halley

B) Isaac Newton

C) Robert Boyle

D) Christopher Wren

Answer · why

B) Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton lost at least £10,000, a fortune worth millions now, when the South Sea Company collapsed around 1720. He was Master of the Mint, in char...

Q 02/05

Which motorcycle maker trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HOG?

A) Royal Enfield

B) Indian Motorcycle

C) Harley-Davidson

D) Moto Guzzi

Answer · why

C) Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson swapped its plain ticker HDI for HOG in 2006. The nickname goes back to a 1920s racing team of farm boys who kept a live pig as their ...

Q 03/05

Which animal gives its name to a stock market that has fallen 20% or more from a recent high?

A) Stag

B) Wolf

C) Shark

D) Bear

Answer · why

D) Bear

Bear is usually traced to 18th-century London's 'bear-skin jobbers', who sold shares they did not yet own, like a hunter selling the skin before catch...

Q 04/05

Which flower's bulbs sold for over ten times a skilled artisan's yearly income in a 1637 Dutch bubble?

A) Tulip

B) Hyacinth

C) Crocus

D) Daffodil

Answer · why

A) Tulip

Tulip prices collapsed in February 1637, when traders could no longer find buyers at ever-higher prices. The mania is generally considered the first r...

Q 05/05

Which fictional financier says 'greed, for lack of a better word, is good' in the 1987 film Wall Street?

A) Bobby Axelrod

B) Patrick Bateman

C) Sherman McCoy

D) Gordon Gekko

Answer · why

D) Gordon Gekko

Gordon Gekko's speech was adapted from a real 1986 graduation address by financier Ivan Boesky. The role won Michael Douglas the Academy Award for Bes...