No intra-day highs and lows, no trendlines, no points or figures just a simple daily record of the debits and credits of civilization.

Each day's closing value is designated by a single horizontal hash mark meticulously notched on the graph paper.

I browse through it once in awhile, marveling at its simplicity. Its heavy cardboard covers are held together by a couple of rusty screws. It is one big faded green rectangle, measuring 11 inches high and 18 inches across. It covers the years 1896-1948, with each page devoted to one year's trading of both averages. The book was published in 1931 by Robert Rhea, the famed disciple of Charles Dow and of the oldest form of technical analysis, the Dow Theory. I gladly accepted in exchange for a signed copy of one of Joe Granville's books. I am no longer interested in 'speculation.'' So he wondered if I would be interested in his chart book. 'At age 90 my activities are confined to 'growth' stocks and safe investments. 'I have been interested in, but not too active in, the market since the early '20's,' he wrote, 'and lived through the '29 'break' and the greatįoreword depression which was a 'tempering' influence against excessive enthusiasm. A 90-year-old FNN viewer from Virginia offered it to me in the fall of 1985. (Trivia question: Where did the Dow Industrials close after its very first day of trading? Answer: 38.59.) Back then, the Industrials only had 12 components, and the Transports, with 20 issues, were known as the Rails. But my sentimental favorite is a beat-up old chart book of the Dow Jones Industrials and Transportations Averages going back to December 18, 1896, the day the modern Dow Jones averages were born. My inscribed copy of Ivan Boesky's Merger Mania, for example, was appraised a few years ago at $200. My collection also includes about 200 business books written by authors I have interviewed through the years. My specialties include astronomy texts written before 1900, such as Percival Lowell's classic Mars, the first published speculations about the possibility of life on the red planet (which inspired Jules Verne to write The War of the Worlds), and a strange little tome from 1852 that claims astronomer William Hershel spotted sheep on the Moon with his telescope. I am a collector of first editions of books. Auckland BogoU Caracas Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan Montreal New Delhi San Juan Singapore Sydney Tokyo Toronto McGraw-Hill New York San Francisco Washington, D.C.

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