California Gold Rush, the biggest get-rich-quick scheme in American history

How Sam Brannan became the wealthiest man in California without selling a single ounce of gold

/THREAD/

1/ On January 24, 1848, a carpenter named James W. Marshall discovered gold at John Sutter's Mill in Coloma California (close to present-day Sacramento), where he was employed.

Californian residents were the first to rush into the area in late 1848.
2/ By 1849, the word had spread around the world with almost 100,000 gold-seekers and merchants immigrating to California from across the US and abroad, being named forty-niners.

By 1855 the number reached 300,000. It was the biggest immigration movement at the time.
3/ The gold influx into the money supply system rejuvenated the country's economy giving statehood to California.

The rise in population led to an expansion in various sectors, such as agriculture, ranching, and merchandising.
4/ The San Francisco population exploded from 200 residents in 1846 to 30,000 in 1852.

Many cities and infrastructure was built across California.

New methods of mining and transportation were developed creating a technological boom.
5/ Due to the increased demand, prices of goods skyrocketed.

In today's terms, a single egg cost $25, and a pair of second-hand boots more than $2,000.

Gold worth tens of billions of dollars (in today's terms) was recovered.
6/ Among the miners, only a small minority made a modest earning, with most barely breaking even due to taxes and the high operational costs.

Most of the profits were made by merchants and savvy entrepreneurs.
7/ One of them was Levi Strauss who sold denim overalls, that could withstand harsh conditions, to miners.

Others were industrialist Philip Armour, who was operating sluices controlling the water flow to the mined rivers.
8/ John Studebaker, who manufactured wheelbarrows.

Henry Wells and William Fargo, who started an enterprise that became one of the biggest financial institutions in the country.
9/ Most notable among them was Sam Brannan a merchant, businessman, and newspaper publisher.

He went around San Francisco shouting "Gold! Gold on the American River!" while waving a vial with a small amount of it.
10/ He then bought all the picks, shovels, and pans he could find and sold them at an immense markup to the incoming gold seekers.

He was selling pans he bought for 20 cents each for up to $15 apiece, making more than $35,000 in 2 months.
11/ His stores earned hundreds of thousands of dollars during the entire Gold Rush, which ended in 1855.

That's how the saying "When everyone is looking for gold, sell shovels" came to life.

/END/
If you liked this thread click below and retweet the first tweet

https://t.co/R4wygTP8fH
For more educational threads on financial independence and investing for beginners see below for a collection of threads 👇👇👇

https://t.co/6o3A2IQCMs

More from Kostas 👨‍💼 📈 💸

The Mother of All Squeezes

How Volkswagen went from being on the brink of bankruptcy to the most valuable company in the world in two days

/THREAD/


1/ At the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, Volkswagen was considered a very likely candidate for bankruptcy.

Heavily indebted and already financially struggling before 2008, with car sales expected to plummet due to the ongoing global crisis.


2/ With GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy in 2009, shorting the VW stock would seem a safe bet.

If you are not familiar with stock shorts and short squeezes check my thread


3/ On October 26, 2008, Porsche announced it had increased its stake at VW from 30% to 74%.

This was a surprise to many who were led to believe that Porsche wasn't planning a takeover of VW, based on the company's announcements.


4/ Before the announcement, the short interest was approximately 13% of the outstanding shares, a number considered relatively low.

Porsche had a 30% stake, the Lower Saxony government fund held 20% of the shares, and another 5% was held by index funds.
If you want to become financially independent and don't know where to start, here is a thread that will help you get started

/THREAD/

1. Review your expenses and make a budget

It will help you see where you overspend, make a plan to save, pay down debt and start


2. Set your investing and retirement goals

How much do you need to support yourself in retirement and when do you want to


3. The earlier you start investing, the better.

Here's why and how time and compounding can become your


4. Invest in an index fund

It's easy, safe, cheap, and the best choice for a beginner in investing, with not much time for

More from Trading

TradingView isn't just charts

It's much more powerful than you think

9 things TradingView can do, you'll wish you knew yesterday: 🧵

Collaborated with @niki_poojary

1/ Free Multi Timeframe Analysis

Step 1. Download Vivaldi Browser

Step 2. Login to trading view

Step 3. Open bank nifty chart in 4 separate windows

Step 4. Click on the first tab and shift + click by mouse on the last tab.

Step 5. Select "Tile all 4 tabs"


What happens is you get 4 charts joint on one screen.

Refer to the attached picture.

The best part about this is this is absolutely free to do.

Also, do note:

I do not have the paid version of trading view.


2/ Free Multiple Watchlists

Go through this informative thread where @sarosijghosh teaches you how to create multiple free watchlists in the free


3/ Free Segregation into different headers/sectors

You can create multiple sections sector-wise for free.

1. Long tap on any index/stock and click on "Add section above."
2. Secgregate the stocks/indices based on where they belong.

Kinda like how I did in the picture below.

You May Also Like