bonnie, i did not see the rockefeller reference in the ge/buffet story and i am not aware of his actions so could you explain the analogy?
If you go through the PBS link, you'll see the newspaper article where Rockefeller publically announces he's investing a large sum to buy stocks.
Here's another link:
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:Es5b...;cd=3&gl=usAnd in part the articles states:
"European investors began to pull out, and some - maybe too many - Americans were equally prudent. After another three weeks, famous stocks began to lose 10 points, 25 points, 40 points. Tuesday 22nd October, a rally and several big men, chairmen of the big banks put out warming assurances about the soundness of the economy and the healthiness of what they called the 'shakeout'. Nothing prepared anyone for Thursday 24th - the rush of selling was now a deluge. Five of the biggest bankers formed an emergency pool to move in and buy and steady prices, which they did. For three or four days.
But the bankers' stopgap heroics were no more than a thumb in the dike. Tuesday - another deluge. One appalling but by no means unique example: a famous sewing company's stock which had been at 48 closed on the Monday 28th at 11. Next day a messenger boy had the gall to offer a dollar a share .. and bought a packet. Two days later, John D Rockefeller announced he was buying common stocks. The exchange declared a holiday to help the sleepless floor clerks rest and then climb through the mountains of unfilled orders. But the market fell and fell again. And in the middle of November the deluge hit rock bottom. In two weeks, thirty billion dollars no longer existed on paper or in life - which was just about the money the United States had spent to fight the First World War. "
