“It feels kind of icky and un-American, betting against a company.” --Tom Farley, NYSE Group President, June 2017.
In the early 17th century, Amsterdam became the world’s first stock exchange, though only one company was traded -- the Dutch East India Company -- a shipping giant that monopolized the trading of pepper, yarn, cinnamon and other commodities between the East Indies and Europe.
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But in 1609, Isaac Le Maire, a former board member of Dutch East India, believed that France was about to launch a major competitor. So he formed an investment group that placed a large bet on the Amsterdam exchange...
