📅 On This Day
Merrill Lynch Joins the NYSE It Helped Build
On July 27, 1971, Merrill Lynch shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, opening at $38.25 after an IPO priced at $28 the previous month — one of the first major Wall Street brokerages to go public. The firm had built its reputation on bringing investing to the middle class, and the listing gave ordinary Americans a chance to own a piece of the house. Decades of steady dividends followed, until a weekend crisis sale to Bank of America for $50 billion in September 2008 closed the chapter.
From 'We the People' to a $50B shotgun marriage — few Wall Street stories arc as dramatically as Merrill's.
BAC — Verizon Communications Inc.
🇺🇸 US
Source: NYSE; The Wall Street Journal
📅 On This Day
Merrill Lynch Joins the NYSE It Helped Build
On July 27, 1971, Merrill Lynch shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, opening at $38.25 after an IPO priced at $28 the previous month — one of the first major Wall Street brokerages to go public. The firm had built its reputation on bringing investing to the middle class, and the listing gave ordinary Americans a chance to own a piece of the house. Decades of steady dividends followed, until a weekend crisis sale to Bank of America for $50 billion in September 2008 closed the chapter.
From 'We the People' to a $50B shotgun marriage — few Wall Street stories arc as dramatically as Merrill's.
BAC — Bank of America Corp
🇺🇸 US
Source: NYSE; The Wall Street Journal
🌍 Around the World
British Companies Pay Dividends Twice a Year, Not Four
Most UK companies issue a smaller interim dividend after half-year results, then a larger final dividend — typically double the interim — after full-year results, subject to shareholder approval at the AGM. For U.S. investors accustomed to quarterly checks, the semi-annual rhythm means heftier individual payments but a different cash-flow cadence that requires some adjustment in income planning.
Two payments a year, not four — UK dividends arrive less often but tend to arrive bigger when they do. 🇬🇧
🇬🇧 GB
Source: UK Companies Act 2006
🔥 Dividend Streak
ITW Invented the Six-Pack Ring and Has Raised Dividends Ever Since
In the early 1960s, Illinois Tool Works created the Hi-Cone flexible plastic collar — the ubiquitous six-pack ring — saving beverage makers an estimated 40–60% versus older packaging. The rings later became infamous for entangling wildlife, spawning degradability mandates worldwide. Through every wave of backlash against its most recognizable invention, ITW has quietly raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years, starting in 1964.
The object people most want to ban came from a Dividend King that hasn't missed a raise since 1964.
ITW — Illinois Tool Works Inc
Source: FundingUniverse — Illinois Tool Works Inc. History
💡 Did You Know
13F Filings Show What Funds Own, Not What They're Shorting
A 13F requires disclosure of long positions in U.S. equities and options — but short positions, total return swaps, and other derivatives go unreported. During the 2021 GameStop short squeeze, that gap kept the public blind to the enormous short bets retail traders were squeezing. The same year, Archegos held an estimated $160 billion in swap exposure and filed no 13F at all, a parallel blind spot that reformers have since proposed closing.
Archegos filed no 13F despite $160B in exposure — a disclosure gap that regulators are still working to close.
🇺🇸 US
Source: SEC Staff Report (Oct 2021); Fortune