Wilson got his big break in the movie Cast Away, which was also famous for having Tom Hanks in it. Tom Hanks played Chuck Noland, who was stranded on a desert island for four years after a plane crash. On the island, Noland finds a volleyball and Wilson is born. Throughout the film, Noland continuously speaks to the ball to stay sane, which makes no sense if you think about it, but then what Hollywood movie plot does?
Wilson was recently auctioned by Prop Store. Unfortunately, he is no longer in mint condition. According to Prop Store, “Wilson was placed in water for long periods during filming. Therefore, the overall shape of the ball warped slightly, and the facial detailing became somewhat blurred compared to shots earlier in the film.”
So, how much is Wilson the extremely second hand volleyball worth? Well, it was originally estimated to sell for no more than $100,000. However, it exceeded auction expectations and sold for just under $400,000.
This month in (financial) history.
November 1971. The microprocessor was officially born as Intel introduced the 4004 chip. At 3mm long by 1.5mm wide, it held over 2,000 transistors and had almost as much computational power as the 30-ton ENIAC computer of 1946. Intel acquired the rights to the chip from Busicom of Japan, who saw no use for it. Busicom sold its entire interest to Intel for $60,000, in what you would have to say was one of the poorer business decisions in history.
November 1923. With hyperinflation raging in Germany, the value of the German mark imploded. It took 4.2 trillion marks to buy one dollar’s worth of goods. Just over three years earlier, it had taken only 40 marks to equal a dollar. Workers were being paid twice a day and rushed out during their lunch hour, shoving wheelbarrows of money through the streets in panic. They were desperate to buy anything they could find before shopkeepers raised prices again.
November 15, 1867. An invention that would change Wall Street forever was unveiled in New York City. The “stock ticker” was introduced by Edward Calahan. The ticker replaced the job of a stock runner, whose job was literally to run from the stock exchange to brokerage offices to impart the latest prices. Calahan thought up the stock ticker as a way to relay prices faster and more accurately to investors around the country. In 1869, another inventor would improve the device further in what would be his first successful invention. That guy was none other than Thomas Edison. His success with the stock ticker meant he could afford to set up his own laboratory for research and inventions. So, the career of one of the most famous inventors was made possible by his work on the stock ticker.
Investor update.
Recently, our investor portal provider Registry Direct introduced two important changes as part of their ongoing commitment to keeping account and personal information secure.
Firstly, two factor authentication was introduced for logins. This means when you log in using your email address and password, you will also be prompted to enter a 6 digit code supplied by an authenticator app on your mobile device, such as Google or Microsoft Authenticator apps. If you have not yet set this up, you will be prompted to do so next time you log in. You will also have the option to nominate an alternative email address. If your mobile device is not available when you need to log in, Registry Direct can send a code to your alternative email address for you to use instead.
Secondly, if you elect to update any of your details (for example, bank details or postal address) while logged in, you will be sent a verification code via SMS to your registered mobile number. This will need to be entered to complete the update. For convenience, you will only need to do this SMS verification once per login session and only if you wish to make changes to your details.
And finally…five things to make you think
- Why aren’t there any B batteries? *
- Can you be a closet claustrophobic?
- How do they make Teflon stick to the pan?
- What was the best thing before sliced bread?
- How do a fool and his money get together in the first place?
* Actually, we did the research, and it turns out that B batteries (and A batteries for that matter) did exist a long time ago. You can read all about it here.