A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money ClassA Piece of the Action begins with the Bank of America's decision to drop credit cards on the unsuspecting citizens of Fresno, California, and the hatching, in relative obscurity, of what has become the key middle-class investing tool, the money market mutual fund. Nocera tells the true tale of great visionaries such as Charlie Merrill (founder of Merrill Lynch) and Dee Hock (creator of Visa), great innovators like Ned Johnson (who, as the untested head of Fidelity Investments, attached check-writing to money funds) and Andrew Kahr (the strange consultant who devised the cash management account and the "non-bank bank"), great investors like Peter Lynch, and great gamblers like Charles Schwab (who put together a nationwide network of storefront discount brokerages) and John Reed (whose $500 million bet pushed Citibank to the top of the credit card world). Nocera reveals not just how the financial world changed but how we changed, too. An America that barely knew the difference between a stock and a bond thirty-five years ago, that prized thrift and security above all, is fueling today's stock market and caught up in its mood swings. This is the story of how that happened and why - and what it means to all of us. |
Contents
The Money Revolution | 9 |
Part I | 13 |
The Drop September 1958 | 15 |
Copyright | |
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accounts American Armacost assets Bank of America bank's BankAmericard bankers became become began bond brokerage brokers bull market called Carter cash Charles Schwab Citibank commissions consumer crash customers debit card debt decade Dee Hock Deposit deregulation DIDC discount Donald Regan Dow Jones average early equity executives Federal Reserve Fidelity Fidelity's firm fund manager going Hock's idea industry inflation institutions interest rates investment investors Johnson Kahn Kahr's knew later loan Loeb Magellan Merrill Lynch middle class million money funds Money magazine money market funds money revolution months mutual fund mutual fund companies nation's never offered once passbook percent Peter Lynch President profits recalls Regan Regulation Q S&Ls seemed sell Stock Exchange stock market story talk thing took Tsai turned Visa Volcker Wall Street Journal wanted York York Stock Exchange