Denmark, like France, the Netherlands, Scotland and England, established international trade companies, banks and insurance companies in the 1600s and 1700s. The Danish companies included Det Danske Ostindiske Kompagnie (The Dutch East India Company) in 1616, which was dissolved in 1650. Det Islandske, Faeroske og Nordlandske Kompagni (The Iceland, Faroe and Northland Company) was established in 1620 and was taken over by the state in 1662. A second East India Company (Det Ostindiske Kompagni) was established in 1670. A new West India Company (Det Vestindiske Kompagni) was established in 1671 and the Danish Africa Company (Det Danske Afrikanske Kompagni) was founded in 1654, though it was dissolved shortly thereafter. A second Africa company was founded in 1659 and dissolved in 1672.\u00a0\u00a0Two Greenland companies were founded in 1697, one in Copenhagen and a second in Bergen.\u00a0\u00a0Although there were several Danish trade companies established in the 1600s, they were generally unsuccessful. Of the companies discussed above, only the Vestindisk Kompagni lasted into the 1700s, being dissolved in 1754.<\/p>\n
Companies established in the 1700s lasted longer.\u00a0\u00a0Among the companies established were three banks, the Kurantbanken (1736-1773), the Speciesbanken (1791-1813) and the Centralkassen (1829-1859); three insurance companies, the S\u00f8assurancekompagniet (1726-1927), the K\u00f8benhavns Mobel-Brandassurance Kompagniet (1778-1976) and the Almendelig Brandassurance Andelsaktier (1798-2020).\u00a0\u00a0There were also several trading companies that were established, including the Asiatisk Kompagni (1732-1844), the Almendelige Handelskompagni (General Trading Co., 1747-1774), as well as several other short-lived companies that carried out trade with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the West Indies, Guinea, the Levant and Morocco. Food companies included the Bryghuis (Brewing House), the St. Kongensgade sugar refinery, the Sct. Croix sugar refinery, the Norregade sugar refinery and the Kobenhavnske Pramlaug (Copenhagen Lightermen\u2019s Guild).\u00a0\u00a0There were continuous attempts to create new companies in Denmark to promote both the domestic and foreign economy.<\/p>\n
In the early 1700s, Denmark\u2019s financial markets were not focused, so the crown established the Kurantbank in 1736 to help the economy grow.\u00a0\u00a0Its purpose was to provide loans to commerce and industry and to issue banknotes. The bank provided funds to rebuild Copenhagen after the 1728 fire. One company which benefitted from its loans was the Asiatisk Kompagni which often ran into cash flow problems during the 1700s.\u00a0\u00a0Initially, most loans were to the private sector, but after the Seven Years\u2019 War (1756-1763), the government absorbed a large part of the bank\u2019s loans and by 1762, the government held about three-quarters of the bank\u2019s 10 million rix-dollars in loans.\u00a0\u00a0In 1773, the Kurantbank was nationalized and shareholders received 4% royal bonds at 350 rbd. In exchange for their shares.<\/p>\n
The Seven-Years\u2019 War with Prussia created both inflation of about 30% during the war and profit opportunities for Danish companies.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark remained neutral in the European wars of the 1700s and its companies benefited from the increased demand.\u00a0\u00a0The Asiatisk Kompagni and other companies saw a rise in stock prices, but after the Seven-Years\u2019 War was concluded, share prices steadily declined for the next ten years.\u00a0\u00a0Although the Asiatic company survived, a liquidity crisis followed the conclusion of the war, and many European trading companies failed.\u00a0\u00a0Danish companies also benefited from the American War for Independence in 1775-1783, and the Napoleonic Wars in 1793-1798 and 1800-1804.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, the late 1700s were fairly prosperous for Denmark.<\/p>\n
Two new banks were established in the late 1700s, and excessive note issuance was used to fund government expenditures.\u00a0\u00a0In 1788 den Slesvig-Holstenske Speciesbank (Schleswig-Holstein Specie Bank) was established and in 1791, den Dansk-Norsk Speciesbank (Denmark-Norway Specie Bank) was established. Both banks issued banknotes. The fire of 1795 brought down the K\u00f8benhavns Mobel-Brandassurance Kompagniet which had to be reorganized, but led to the establishment of the Almendelig Brandassurance Andelsaktier in 1798.\u00a0\u00a0During the business crisis of 1797-1799 banknote issue rose dramatically.\u00a0\u00a0People converted the banknotes into silver, reducing the value of the banknotes.<\/p>\n
The Bankruptcy of 1813<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nThe Copenhagen Securities Exchange was established in 1808. In September 1807, Britain bombed Copenhagen in order to destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet. Denmark-Norway allied with France in 1807; however, Denmark suffered defeats between 1810 and 1812.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark provided troops and equipment to Napoleon, but received little financial compensation in return. Denmark paid for the war by printing currency which led to a depreciation in the value of the currency and government bonds. On January 5, 1813, Denmark declared bankruptcy. The Rigsbank was established to reorganize the state\u2019s finances and replace the Speciesbanken. Under the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden and lost its claim to lands in northern Germany.\u00a0\u00a0In 1813 alone, consumer prices rose by 300%. Denmark suspended foreign debt and interest payments until 1819.<\/p>\n
The Rigsbanken issued a new currency, the Rigsbankdaler to replace the old currency at a rate of six to one. The government restricted the issue of new currency so the conversion rate between silver and the paper currency could be brought back to par. On July 4, 1818, the Nationalbank was created to replace the Rigsbanken.\u00a0\u00a0The Nationalbank had the sole responsibility for managing the money supply. Between 1818 and 1838, the Nationalbank reduced the money supply by half and brought banknotes and silver currency back into alignment. The bank was able to reintroduce the convertibility of silver into banknotes in 1845.\u00a0\u00a0The Rigsbanken was owned by the state and only 4% obligations were issued in 1814, but no equity shares.\u00a0\u00a0The same was true of the Denmarks Nationalbank.\u00a0\u00a0Initially, only bonds were issued.\u00a0\u00a0A 6.5% mortgage bond was issued in 1818 and a 4% obligation was issued in 1824. Scrip was issued for the bank in 1822, which was exchanged for receipts in 1834 and shares in 1837. The price of Nationalbank stock rose from 38 in 1837 to 156 in 1844 as the prospect of dividends rose.\u00a0\u00a0In 1844, the rix-dollar became convertible and the bank began paying dividends.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download-4-20.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure 1.\u00a0 Denmark Stock Price Index, 1759-1937<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nThe impact of the inflation of the 1810s can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.\u00a0 Figure 1 shows the nominal appreciation of stock prices during the inflation, rising dramatically between 1807 and 1813.\u00a0 But if you look at Figure 2, which is adjusted for inflation, you can see that stock prices actually declined between 1807 and 1813 by around 90% and only recovered after the government stabilized the currency.\u00a0 Stock prices rose in the 1830s and 1840s, primarily as a result in the appreciation of the stock of Denmarks Nationalbank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the Bankruptcy<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nDenmark fought two wars with Germany in the mid-1800s.\u00a0 The first Schleswig war (1848-1852) occurred when the German population of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg rebelled against the Danish government, but with the support of Britain and Russia, Denmark proved victorious.\u00a0 The second Schleswig war in 1864 led to a Prussian victory.\u00a0 Under the Peace of Prague in 1866, Denmark ceded Schleswig and Holstein to Germany. This contributed to a bear market which ended in 1877.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download-51.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure 2.\u00a0 Denmark Stock Price Index Adjusted for Inflation, 1759-1937<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nBroader coverage of Danish stocks in the newspapers began in 1854 and stock trading rose in the mid-1860s.\u00a0\u00a0 The market recovered after 1877 and rose steadily for the rest of the century. The market gradually declined until the start of World War I. Denmark shipping stocks enjoyed a brief bubble during World War I, but when the war ended, Danish shipping stocks declined to their pre-war level.\u00a0 As in the 1700s, Denmark was able to take advantage of its neutrality during World War I.\u00a0 After the war, there was slower growth in Denmark. Danish stocks steadily declined between 1918 and 1932 where share prices, as can be seen in Figure 2, returned to the level they had been at, after adjusting for inflation, in the 1700s.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download-1-40.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure 3.\u00a0 Denmark Stock Return Index, 1836-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nFigure 3 shows that Danish stocks made no progress between 1850 and 1950.\u00a0 It was only after World War II that the steady appreciation in Danish stocks began, though in part due to the post-World War II inflation. Since 1950, Danish stocks have risen by 3.6% per annum after inflation and by 7.56% after adjusting for dividends.\u00a0 Denmark stocks continue to do well in the twenty-first century, returning 7.46% without dividends and 10.19% with dividends since 2000.<\/p>\n
Total Returns to Stocks, Bonds and Bills<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download-2-34.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure 4. Denmark Total Return to Stocks, Bonds and Bills, 1837-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nThe return to Danish stocks, bonds and bills since 1837 is illustrated in Figure 4. Until the 1970s, there was little difference in the return to government bonds and cash\/bills.\u00a0 The reason for this can be seen in Figure 5 which compares the yield on Danish government bonds back to 1787 with the Denmark National Bank\u2019s discount rate from 1810 until the present.\u00a0 During the inflation of the 1810s, the discount rate hit 15%, though the payment of interest on government bonds was suspended for six years.\u00a0 The discount rate and yield on bonds largely tracked each other until the 1960s when bond yields skyrocketed, hitting 20% in 1980.\u00a0 Yields continually declined for the next 40 years, but have recently risen as the National Bank has tried to control inflation. As in all countries, stocks clearly outperformed both bonds and bills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download-3-30.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure 5.\u00a0 Denmark Government Bond Yield and Central Bank Discount Rate, 1787-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nThe exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Danish currency is illustrated in Figure 6.\u00a0 The only anomaly is the severe rise in the exchange rate between 1807 and 1813 when the inflation and resulting depreciation of the currency occurred. A new currency was introduced as a result of the bankruptcy of 1813. Since 1850, there has been a gradual depreciation in the Danish currency relative to the US Dollar, but only by 50% over the past 170 years (adjustments were made for the two currency conversions of 1813 and 1873).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download-5-16.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figure 6. US Dollar – Denmark Riksdaler\/Krone Exchange Rate, 1792 to 2022<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\nFinancial Market Performance in Denmark<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nAnnual returns to stocks, bonds and bills in Denmark, as well as a calculation of the Equity Risk Premium (ERP) are provided in Table 1.\u00a0\u00a0During most of Denmark\u2019s history, returns have been inferior to the rest of the world.\u00a0\u00a0Returns were particularly low between 1914 and 1981 for all investment classes.\u00a0\u00a0However, returns have been very high since 1981 when bond yields began to decline in Denmark and other countries.\u00a0\u00a0Annualized real stock returns rose from 3.09% between 1914 and 1981 to 10.63% between 1981 and 2021 while bond returns rose from 1.28% to 6.75%. During the twenty-first century, stocks have returned 10.19% and bonds 3.08% leading to the highest Equity Risk Premium in Denmark\u2019s history at 6.90%.\u00a0\u00a0However, the return to cash has been its lowest in history, at 0.11%.\u00a0\u00a0Returns were also high between 1815 and 1848 as Denmark recovered from bankruptcy in 1813 and stabilized the economy, and during the period before World War I when Denmark benefited from greater international trade.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nYears<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nStock Price<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nStock Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nBond Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nBill Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nERP<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1815-1848<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n9.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \n10.55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n9.54<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\n1848-1873<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-1.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-1.39<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1873-1914<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.66<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.41<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1914-1945<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-3.52<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.81<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.99<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1945-1981<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-1.9<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1914-1981<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-2.65<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.28<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.79<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1981-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n8.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10.63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.75<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.64<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1789-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.95<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \n2.68<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\n1848-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n5.7<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.61<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.86<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.01<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1899-1999<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-0.5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.7<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.59<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1919-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.26<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.06<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1999-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n7.46<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10.19<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.9<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nTable 1.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark Annual Returns to Stocks, Bonds and Bills, 1789 to 2021<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nTable 2 documents the bull and bear markets that Denmark has gone through over the past 260 years.\u00a0\u00a0Although the greatest bull market occurred between 1790 and 1846, this was primarily because of the inflation that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars.\u00a0\u00a0After adjusting for inflation, the Danish stock market actually lost 94% of its value between 1790 and 1813, and between 1790 and 1846, the stock market tripled in price,\u00a0\u00a0This was still a significant gain, but nothing close to the 22-fold increase in nominal terms.\u00a0\u00a0Since 1850, there have been five bull markets in which stocks more than tripled in price.\u00a0\u00a0The inflation in World War I reduced the size of the bull market between 1877 and 1918.\u00a0\u00a0After inflation, the market only rose by about 50%, not 240%.<\/p>\n
Ignoring the impact of the inflation in the 1810s, the two worst nominal declines were between 1918 and 1932 and between 2007 and 2009 when the market declined ober 60%. All other bear markets registered declines of less than 50%.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nB<\/span>ottom<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\nChange<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\nTop<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\nChange<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n \n12\/31\/1782<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n167.29<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n08\/31\/1790<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-45.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n07\/31\/1846<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2310.48<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n12\/31\/1877<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-49.13<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n9\/30\/1918<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n241.16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n4\/30\/1932<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-63.84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n5\/31\/1944<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n123.24<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n6\/30\/1949<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-28.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n7\/31\/1966<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n179.73<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n11\/30\/1971<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-25.90<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n8\/31\/1973<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n115.25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n11\/30\/1974<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-38.22<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n7\/31\/1976<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n60.43<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/5\/1980<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-30.64<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1\/20\/1984<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n294.22<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1\/8\/1985<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-29.65<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4\/18\/1986<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n58.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n11\/20\/1987<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-28.37<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n8\/2\/1990<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n114.35<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n10\/28\/1992<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-34.94<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4\/6\/1998<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n211.18<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/15\/1999<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-26.32<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10\/6\/2000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n80.32<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/12\/2003<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-48.46<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10\/11\/2007<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n246.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/9\/2009<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-62.06<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1\/18\/2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n113.3<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n9\/23\/2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-31.07<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2\/19\/2020<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n267.6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/18\/2020<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-26.05<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n12\/30\/2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n93.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n9\/29\/2022<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-20.91<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nTable 2.\u00a0\u00a0Bull and Bear Markets in Denmark, 1759 to 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nConclusion<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nDenmark provides one of the longest financial histories of any country in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Data on the stock market begins in 1759, on bonds in 1788, on the discount rate in 1810 and total returns on stocks begins in 1837.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark was largely neutral in the wars of the 1700s and World War I from which Danish companies benefitted. However, Denmark\u2019s participation in the Napoleonic wars in the 1810s led to the highest inflation in its history, the only default on interest payments and the largest inflation-adjusted decline in stocks and bonds in the country\u2019s history.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark\u2019s stock market has outperformed other European markets since World War II ended and has continued to do well in the twenty-first century.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark and Switzerland both show the benefits of neutrality when war surrounds them and taking advantage of international trade.\u00a0\u00a0Both countries are small and dependent on trade with other countries, and these facts are reflected in their stock market histories.<\/p>\n
Sources<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nThe first publication of Danish share prices occurred in 1759.\u00a0\u00a0Share prices were occasionally published along with commodity prices.\u00a0\u00a0In 1806, the newspapers began publishing bond prices as well, but up until 1813, the prices of stocks were more common than those of bonds.\u00a0\u00a0In the 1830s official price lists of stocks were published and in the 1850s, a broader range of stocks was published.<\/p>\n
We have used a number of resources in order to put together a history of Danish stocks. Bent Stancke provided data on Copenhagen stocks from 1759 to 1830 in The Danish Stock Market 1750-1840<\/em>, published in Copenhagen in 1971.\u00a0\u00a0We consulted several newspapers including\u00a0Dagen<\/em>\u00a0(1835-1843),\u00a0Faedrelandet\u00a0<\/em>(1840-1852) and\u00a0Dagbladed<\/em>\u00a0of Copenhagen (1851-1872) to cover the period from 1836 to 1872. Data for individual companies from 1873 to 1912 was taken from various issues of Medarbejdere H. Green,\u00a0\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>, Copenhagen: L. Jorgensen, 1883-1912. Data on individual companies was also obtained from Danske Statistiske Department,\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>, Copenhagen: Statistiske Dept. from 1893 to 1937. By combining these sources together, we were able to put together data on Copenhagen stocks from 1759 to 1937.\u00a0\u00a0Danish bond prices were available from Amsterdam between 1788 and 1830.<\/p>\nStancke provided information on several banks including the Kurantbanken (1736-1773), Speciesbanken (1791-1813) and Centralkassen (1829-1839), on several insurance companies, including the S\u00f8assurancekompagnie (1726-1927), Almindelig Brandassurance (1798-1891) and K\u00f8benhavns Mobel-Brandassurance (1778-1891) and several trading companies including the Det Kongelige Octroyerede Danske Asiatiske Kompagni (1732-1844), Det Almindelige Handelskompagnie (1747-1774) (The General Trading Co.), Det Ostersoisk-guineiske Kompagni (1781-1786) and Det vestindiske Handelskompagni (1778-1786).\u00a0\u00a0Periodic price data as well as shares outstanding data were provided, but limited information on dividends.<\/p>\n
The newspapers provided periodic data on companies listed in Copenhagen, and data were collected each month on the last available date for that month.\u00a0\u00a0Data for the Danmarks Nationalbank was collected beginning in June 1837.\u00a0\u00a0Data for the K\u00f8benhavn-Roskilde Jernbane (Railroad) began in June 1845, but data for other companies didn\u2019t begin until September 1854 when prices for the three insurance companies mentioned above as well as the K\u00f8benhavns Tivoli and K\u00f8benhavns Kasino began. By 1871, data on 15 different companies was available.\u00a0\u00a0Green\u2019s Fonds og Aktier<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>\u00a0books provided comprehensive coverage of the Copenhagen stock exchange from 1873 to 1937 covering over 100 companies. The\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>\u00a0book provided price data, dividends and shares outstanding while the\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>\u00a0only provided price data and dividends.<\/p>\nData before 1835 is periodic with the availability of data depending upon the year.\u00a0\u00a0There are multiple years when no data were available, such as 1776-1780 and 1791-1802 although no data were available after 1830.\u00a0\u00a0Monthly data are available from June 1836 to 1925 and bi-monthly to 1937.\u00a0\u00a0Monthly indices for the Copenhagen Stock Exchange were calculated beginning in 1921 and we were able to link up the indices GFD calculated based upon individual stocks to the real-time indices calculated in Copenhagen to provide a continuous series for stocks.<\/p>\n
Newspapers: Dagen (1835-1843), Faedrelandet (1840-1852) and Dagbladed of Copenhagen (1851-1872)<\/p>\n
Danmarks Nationalbank,\u00a0Danmarks Nationalbank, 1818-2018,\u00a0<\/em>Copenhagen<\/p>\nDanske Statistiske Department,\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>, Copenhagen: Statistiske Dept.<\/p>\nGreen, Medarbejdere H.\u00a0\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>, Copenhagen: L. Jorgensen<\/p>\nLeague of Nations,\u00a0Monthly Bulletin of Statistics<\/em>, Geneva: League of Nations, 1922-1946<\/p>\nMaercher, Michael, Danish Banking Before and After the Napoleonic Wars: A Survey of Danish Banking, 1736-1857, memo<\/p>\n
Stancke, Bent\u00a0The Danish Stock Market 1750-<\/em>, Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen Institute of Economic History, 1971<\/p>\nUnited Nations,\u00a0Monthly Bulletin of Statistics<\/em>, New York: UN, 1947-1975<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bryan Taylor, Chief Economist, Finaeon Denmark has one of the longest stock market histories of any country in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Data for Danish stocks begins…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insights","category-november-2022"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3426"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3489,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions\/3489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\nThe impact of the inflation of the 1810s can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.\u00a0 Figure 1 shows the nominal appreciation of stock prices during the inflation, rising dramatically between 1807 and 1813.\u00a0 But if you look at Figure 2, which is adjusted for inflation, you can see that stock prices actually declined between 1807 and 1813 by around 90% and only recovered after the government stabilized the currency.\u00a0 Stock prices rose in the 1830s and 1840s, primarily as a result in the appreciation of the stock of Denmarks Nationalbank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the Bankruptcy<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nDenmark fought two wars with Germany in the mid-1800s.\u00a0 The first Schleswig war (1848-1852) occurred when the German population of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg rebelled against the Danish government, but with the support of Britain and Russia, Denmark proved victorious.\u00a0 The second Schleswig war in 1864 led to a Prussian victory.\u00a0 Under the Peace of Prague in 1866, Denmark ceded Schleswig and Holstein to Germany. This contributed to a bear market which ended in 1877.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Figure 2.\u00a0 Denmark Stock Price Index Adjusted for Inflation, 1759-1937<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nBroader coverage of Danish stocks in the newspapers began in 1854 and stock trading rose in the mid-1860s.\u00a0\u00a0 The market recovered after 1877 and rose steadily for the rest of the century. The market gradually declined until the start of World War I. Denmark shipping stocks enjoyed a brief bubble during World War I, but when the war ended, Danish shipping stocks declined to their pre-war level.\u00a0 As in the 1700s, Denmark was able to take advantage of its neutrality during World War I.\u00a0 After the war, there was slower growth in Denmark. Danish stocks steadily declined between 1918 and 1932 where share prices, as can be seen in Figure 2, returned to the level they had been at, after adjusting for inflation, in the 1700s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Figure 3.\u00a0 Denmark Stock Return Index, 1836-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nFigure 3 shows that Danish stocks made no progress between 1850 and 1950.\u00a0 It was only after World War II that the steady appreciation in Danish stocks began, though in part due to the post-World War II inflation. Since 1950, Danish stocks have risen by 3.6% per annum after inflation and by 7.56% after adjusting for dividends.\u00a0 Denmark stocks continue to do well in the twenty-first century, returning 7.46% without dividends and 10.19% with dividends since 2000.<\/p>\n
Total Returns to Stocks, Bonds and Bills<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Figure 4. Denmark Total Return to Stocks, Bonds and Bills, 1837-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nThe return to Danish stocks, bonds and bills since 1837 is illustrated in Figure 4. Until the 1970s, there was little difference in the return to government bonds and cash\/bills.\u00a0 The reason for this can be seen in Figure 5 which compares the yield on Danish government bonds back to 1787 with the Denmark National Bank\u2019s discount rate from 1810 until the present.\u00a0 During the inflation of the 1810s, the discount rate hit 15%, though the payment of interest on government bonds was suspended for six years.\u00a0 The discount rate and yield on bonds largely tracked each other until the 1960s when bond yields skyrocketed, hitting 20% in 1980.\u00a0 Yields continually declined for the next 40 years, but have recently risen as the National Bank has tried to control inflation. As in all countries, stocks clearly outperformed both bonds and bills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Figure 5.\u00a0 Denmark Government Bond Yield and Central Bank Discount Rate, 1787-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nThe exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Danish currency is illustrated in Figure 6.\u00a0 The only anomaly is the severe rise in the exchange rate between 1807 and 1813 when the inflation and resulting depreciation of the currency occurred. A new currency was introduced as a result of the bankruptcy of 1813. Since 1850, there has been a gradual depreciation in the Danish currency relative to the US Dollar, but only by 50% over the past 170 years (adjustments were made for the two currency conversions of 1813 and 1873).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Figure 6. US Dollar – Denmark Riksdaler\/Krone Exchange Rate, 1792 to 2022<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\nFinancial Market Performance in Denmark<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nAnnual returns to stocks, bonds and bills in Denmark, as well as a calculation of the Equity Risk Premium (ERP) are provided in Table 1.\u00a0\u00a0During most of Denmark\u2019s history, returns have been inferior to the rest of the world.\u00a0\u00a0Returns were particularly low between 1914 and 1981 for all investment classes.\u00a0\u00a0However, returns have been very high since 1981 when bond yields began to decline in Denmark and other countries.\u00a0\u00a0Annualized real stock returns rose from 3.09% between 1914 and 1981 to 10.63% between 1981 and 2021 while bond returns rose from 1.28% to 6.75%. During the twenty-first century, stocks have returned 10.19% and bonds 3.08% leading to the highest Equity Risk Premium in Denmark\u2019s history at 6.90%.\u00a0\u00a0However, the return to cash has been its lowest in history, at 0.11%.\u00a0\u00a0Returns were also high between 1815 and 1848 as Denmark recovered from bankruptcy in 1813 and stabilized the economy, and during the period before World War I when Denmark benefited from greater international trade.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nYears<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nStock Price<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nStock Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nBond Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nBill Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\nERP<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1815-1848<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n9.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \n10.55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n9.54<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\n1848-1873<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-1.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-1.39<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1873-1914<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.66<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.41<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1914-1945<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-3.52<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.81<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.99<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1945-1981<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-1.9<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1914-1981<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-2.65<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.28<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.79<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1981-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n8.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10.63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.75<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.64<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1789-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.95<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \n2.68<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\n1848-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n5.7<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.61<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.86<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.01<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1899-1999<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-0.5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.7<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.59<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1919-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1.85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.26<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2.06<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1999-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n7.46<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10.19<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n3.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n0.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n6.9<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nTable 1.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark Annual Returns to Stocks, Bonds and Bills, 1789 to 2021<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nTable 2 documents the bull and bear markets that Denmark has gone through over the past 260 years.\u00a0\u00a0Although the greatest bull market occurred between 1790 and 1846, this was primarily because of the inflation that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars.\u00a0\u00a0After adjusting for inflation, the Danish stock market actually lost 94% of its value between 1790 and 1813, and between 1790 and 1846, the stock market tripled in price,\u00a0\u00a0This was still a significant gain, but nothing close to the 22-fold increase in nominal terms.\u00a0\u00a0Since 1850, there have been five bull markets in which stocks more than tripled in price.\u00a0\u00a0The inflation in World War I reduced the size of the bull market between 1877 and 1918.\u00a0\u00a0After inflation, the market only rose by about 50%, not 240%.<\/p>\n
Ignoring the impact of the inflation in the 1810s, the two worst nominal declines were between 1918 and 1932 and between 2007 and 2009 when the market declined ober 60%. All other bear markets registered declines of less than 50%.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nB<\/span>ottom<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\nChange<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\nTop<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\nChange<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n \n12\/31\/1782<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n167.29<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n08\/31\/1790<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-45.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n07\/31\/1846<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2310.48<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n12\/31\/1877<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-49.13<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n9\/30\/1918<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n241.16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n4\/30\/1932<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-63.84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n5\/31\/1944<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n123.24<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n6\/30\/1949<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-28.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n7\/31\/1966<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n179.73<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n11\/30\/1971<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-25.90<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n8\/31\/1973<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n115.25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n11\/30\/1974<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-38.22<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n7\/31\/1976<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n60.43<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/5\/1980<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-30.64<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1\/20\/1984<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n294.22<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n1\/8\/1985<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-29.65<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4\/18\/1986<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n58.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n11\/20\/1987<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-28.37<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n8\/2\/1990<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n114.35<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n10\/28\/1992<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-34.94<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n4\/6\/1998<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n211.18<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/15\/1999<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-26.32<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10\/6\/2000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n80.32<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/12\/2003<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-48.46<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n10\/11\/2007<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n246.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/9\/2009<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-62.06<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n1\/18\/2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n113.3<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n9\/23\/2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-31.07<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n2\/19\/2020<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n267.6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n3\/18\/2020<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-26.05<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n12\/30\/2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n93.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n9\/29\/2022<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n-20.91<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nTable 2.\u00a0\u00a0Bull and Bear Markets in Denmark, 1759 to 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nConclusion<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nDenmark provides one of the longest financial histories of any country in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Data on the stock market begins in 1759, on bonds in 1788, on the discount rate in 1810 and total returns on stocks begins in 1837.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark was largely neutral in the wars of the 1700s and World War I from which Danish companies benefitted. However, Denmark\u2019s participation in the Napoleonic wars in the 1810s led to the highest inflation in its history, the only default on interest payments and the largest inflation-adjusted decline in stocks and bonds in the country\u2019s history.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark\u2019s stock market has outperformed other European markets since World War II ended and has continued to do well in the twenty-first century.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark and Switzerland both show the benefits of neutrality when war surrounds them and taking advantage of international trade.\u00a0\u00a0Both countries are small and dependent on trade with other countries, and these facts are reflected in their stock market histories.<\/p>\n
Sources<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nThe first publication of Danish share prices occurred in 1759.\u00a0\u00a0Share prices were occasionally published along with commodity prices.\u00a0\u00a0In 1806, the newspapers began publishing bond prices as well, but up until 1813, the prices of stocks were more common than those of bonds.\u00a0\u00a0In the 1830s official price lists of stocks were published and in the 1850s, a broader range of stocks was published.<\/p>\n
We have used a number of resources in order to put together a history of Danish stocks. Bent Stancke provided data on Copenhagen stocks from 1759 to 1830 in The Danish Stock Market 1750-1840<\/em>, published in Copenhagen in 1971.\u00a0\u00a0We consulted several newspapers including\u00a0Dagen<\/em>\u00a0(1835-1843),\u00a0Faedrelandet\u00a0<\/em>(1840-1852) and\u00a0Dagbladed<\/em>\u00a0of Copenhagen (1851-1872) to cover the period from 1836 to 1872. Data for individual companies from 1873 to 1912 was taken from various issues of Medarbejdere H. Green,\u00a0\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>, Copenhagen: L. Jorgensen, 1883-1912. Data on individual companies was also obtained from Danske Statistiske Department,\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>, Copenhagen: Statistiske Dept. from 1893 to 1937. By combining these sources together, we were able to put together data on Copenhagen stocks from 1759 to 1937.\u00a0\u00a0Danish bond prices were available from Amsterdam between 1788 and 1830.<\/p>\nStancke provided information on several banks including the Kurantbanken (1736-1773), Speciesbanken (1791-1813) and Centralkassen (1829-1839), on several insurance companies, including the S\u00f8assurancekompagnie (1726-1927), Almindelig Brandassurance (1798-1891) and K\u00f8benhavns Mobel-Brandassurance (1778-1891) and several trading companies including the Det Kongelige Octroyerede Danske Asiatiske Kompagni (1732-1844), Det Almindelige Handelskompagnie (1747-1774) (The General Trading Co.), Det Ostersoisk-guineiske Kompagni (1781-1786) and Det vestindiske Handelskompagni (1778-1786).\u00a0\u00a0Periodic price data as well as shares outstanding data were provided, but limited information on dividends.<\/p>\n
The newspapers provided periodic data on companies listed in Copenhagen, and data were collected each month on the last available date for that month.\u00a0\u00a0Data for the Danmarks Nationalbank was collected beginning in June 1837.\u00a0\u00a0Data for the K\u00f8benhavn-Roskilde Jernbane (Railroad) began in June 1845, but data for other companies didn\u2019t begin until September 1854 when prices for the three insurance companies mentioned above as well as the K\u00f8benhavns Tivoli and K\u00f8benhavns Kasino began. By 1871, data on 15 different companies was available.\u00a0\u00a0Green\u2019s Fonds og Aktier<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>\u00a0books provided comprehensive coverage of the Copenhagen stock exchange from 1873 to 1937 covering over 100 companies. The\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>\u00a0book provided price data, dividends and shares outstanding while the\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>\u00a0only provided price data and dividends.<\/p>\nData before 1835 is periodic with the availability of data depending upon the year.\u00a0\u00a0There are multiple years when no data were available, such as 1776-1780 and 1791-1802 although no data were available after 1830.\u00a0\u00a0Monthly data are available from June 1836 to 1925 and bi-monthly to 1937.\u00a0\u00a0Monthly indices for the Copenhagen Stock Exchange were calculated beginning in 1921 and we were able to link up the indices GFD calculated based upon individual stocks to the real-time indices calculated in Copenhagen to provide a continuous series for stocks.<\/p>\n
Newspapers: Dagen (1835-1843), Faedrelandet (1840-1852) and Dagbladed of Copenhagen (1851-1872)<\/p>\n
Danmarks Nationalbank,\u00a0Danmarks Nationalbank, 1818-2018,\u00a0<\/em>Copenhagen<\/p>\nDanske Statistiske Department,\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>, Copenhagen: Statistiske Dept.<\/p>\nGreen, Medarbejdere H.\u00a0\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>, Copenhagen: L. Jorgensen<\/p>\nLeague of Nations,\u00a0Monthly Bulletin of Statistics<\/em>, Geneva: League of Nations, 1922-1946<\/p>\nMaercher, Michael, Danish Banking Before and After the Napoleonic Wars: A Survey of Danish Banking, 1736-1857, memo<\/p>\n
Stancke, Bent\u00a0The Danish Stock Market 1750-<\/em>, Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen Institute of Economic History, 1971<\/p>\nUnited Nations,\u00a0Monthly Bulletin of Statistics<\/em>, New York: UN, 1947-1975<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bryan Taylor, Chief Economist, Finaeon Denmark has one of the longest stock market histories of any country in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Data for Danish stocks begins…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insights","category-november-2022"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3426"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3489,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions\/3489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\nBroader coverage of Danish stocks in the newspapers began in 1854 and stock trading rose in the mid-1860s.\u00a0\u00a0 The market recovered after 1877 and rose steadily for the rest of the century. The market gradually declined until the start of World War I. Denmark shipping stocks enjoyed a brief bubble during World War I, but when the war ended, Danish shipping stocks declined to their pre-war level.\u00a0 As in the 1700s, Denmark was able to take advantage of its neutrality during World War I.\u00a0 After the war, there was slower growth in Denmark. Danish stocks steadily declined between 1918 and 1932 where share prices, as can be seen in Figure 2, returned to the level they had been at, after adjusting for inflation, in the 1700s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Figure 3.\u00a0 Denmark Stock Return Index, 1836-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Figure 3 shows that Danish stocks made no progress between 1850 and 1950.\u00a0 It was only after World War II that the steady appreciation in Danish stocks began, though in part due to the post-World War II inflation. Since 1950, Danish stocks have risen by 3.6% per annum after inflation and by 7.56% after adjusting for dividends.\u00a0 Denmark stocks continue to do well in the twenty-first century, returning 7.46% without dividends and 10.19% with dividends since 2000.<\/p>\n Figure 4. Denmark Total Return to Stocks, Bonds and Bills, 1837-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The return to Danish stocks, bonds and bills since 1837 is illustrated in Figure 4. Until the 1970s, there was little difference in the return to government bonds and cash\/bills.\u00a0 The reason for this can be seen in Figure 5 which compares the yield on Danish government bonds back to 1787 with the Denmark National Bank\u2019s discount rate from 1810 until the present.\u00a0 During the inflation of the 1810s, the discount rate hit 15%, though the payment of interest on government bonds was suspended for six years.\u00a0 The discount rate and yield on bonds largely tracked each other until the 1960s when bond yields skyrocketed, hitting 20% in 1980.\u00a0 Yields continually declined for the next 40 years, but have recently risen as the National Bank has tried to control inflation. As in all countries, stocks clearly outperformed both bonds and bills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Figure 5.\u00a0 Denmark Government Bond Yield and Central Bank Discount Rate, 1787-2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Danish currency is illustrated in Figure 6.\u00a0 The only anomaly is the severe rise in the exchange rate between 1807 and 1813 when the inflation and resulting depreciation of the currency occurred. A new currency was introduced as a result of the bankruptcy of 1813. Since 1850, there has been a gradual depreciation in the Danish currency relative to the US Dollar, but only by 50% over the past 170 years (adjustments were made for the two currency conversions of 1813 and 1873).<\/p>\n Figure 6. US Dollar – Denmark Riksdaler\/Krone Exchange Rate, 1792 to 2022<\/strong><\/b>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Annual returns to stocks, bonds and bills in Denmark, as well as a calculation of the Equity Risk Premium (ERP) are provided in Table 1.\u00a0\u00a0During most of Denmark\u2019s history, returns have been inferior to the rest of the world.\u00a0\u00a0Returns were particularly low between 1914 and 1981 for all investment classes.\u00a0\u00a0However, returns have been very high since 1981 when bond yields began to decline in Denmark and other countries.\u00a0\u00a0Annualized real stock returns rose from 3.09% between 1914 and 1981 to 10.63% between 1981 and 2021 while bond returns rose from 1.28% to 6.75%. During the twenty-first century, stocks have returned 10.19% and bonds 3.08% leading to the highest Equity Risk Premium in Denmark\u2019s history at 6.90%.\u00a0\u00a0However, the return to cash has been its lowest in history, at 0.11%.\u00a0\u00a0Returns were also high between 1815 and 1848 as Denmark recovered from bankruptcy in 1813 and stabilized the economy, and during the period before World War I when Denmark benefited from greater international trade.<\/p>\n Years<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Stock Price<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Stock Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Bond Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Bill Return<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n ERP<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1815-1848<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 9.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10.55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 9.54<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1848-1873<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -1.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -1.39<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1873-1914<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 6.6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.66<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4.41<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1914-1945<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -3.52<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.49<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.81<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.99<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1945-1981<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -1.9<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1914-1981<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -2.65<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.28<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.79<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1981-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 8.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10.63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 6.75<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.64<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1789-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.95<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.68<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1848-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 5.7<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.61<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.86<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.01<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1899-1999<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -0.5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.7<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.59<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1919-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1.85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 6.26<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.62<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2.06<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1999-2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7.46<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10.19<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 0.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 6.9<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Table 1.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark Annual Returns to Stocks, Bonds and Bills, 1789 to 2021<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Table 2 documents the bull and bear markets that Denmark has gone through over the past 260 years.\u00a0\u00a0Although the greatest bull market occurred between 1790 and 1846, this was primarily because of the inflation that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars.\u00a0\u00a0After adjusting for inflation, the Danish stock market actually lost 94% of its value between 1790 and 1813, and between 1790 and 1846, the stock market tripled in price,\u00a0\u00a0This was still a significant gain, but nothing close to the 22-fold increase in nominal terms.\u00a0\u00a0Since 1850, there have been five bull markets in which stocks more than tripled in price.\u00a0\u00a0The inflation in World War I reduced the size of the bull market between 1877 and 1918.\u00a0\u00a0After inflation, the market only rose by about 50%, not 240%.<\/p>\n Ignoring the impact of the inflation in the 1810s, the two worst nominal declines were between 1918 and 1932 and between 2007 and 2009 when the market declined ober 60%. All other bear markets registered declines of less than 50%.<\/p>\n B<\/span>ottom<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Change<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Top<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Change<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 12\/31\/1782<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 167.29<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 08\/31\/1790<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -45.11<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 07\/31\/1846<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2310.48<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 12\/31\/1877<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -49.13<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 9\/30\/1918<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 241.16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 4\/30\/1932<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -63.84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 5\/31\/1944<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 123.24<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 6\/30\/1949<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -28.08<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7\/31\/1966<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 179.73<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 11\/30\/1971<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -25.90<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 8\/31\/1973<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 115.25<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 11\/30\/1974<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -38.22<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7\/31\/1976<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 60.43<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 3\/5\/1980<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -30.64<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1\/20\/1984<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 294.22<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1\/8\/1985<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -29.65<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4\/18\/1986<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 58.23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 11\/20\/1987<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -28.37<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 8\/2\/1990<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 114.35<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 10\/28\/1992<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -34.94<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 4\/6\/1998<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 211.18<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 3\/15\/1999<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -26.32<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10\/6\/2000<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 80.32<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 3\/12\/2003<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -48.46<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10\/11\/2007<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 246.57<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 3\/9\/2009<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -62.06<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1\/18\/2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 113.3<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 9\/23\/2011<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -31.07<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2\/19\/2020<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 267.6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 3\/18\/2020<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -26.05<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 12\/30\/2021<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n 93.44<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 9\/29\/2022<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n -20.91<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Table 2.\u00a0\u00a0Bull and Bear Markets in Denmark, 1759 to 2022<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Denmark provides one of the longest financial histories of any country in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Data on the stock market begins in 1759, on bonds in 1788, on the discount rate in 1810 and total returns on stocks begins in 1837.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark was largely neutral in the wars of the 1700s and World War I from which Danish companies benefitted. However, Denmark\u2019s participation in the Napoleonic wars in the 1810s led to the highest inflation in its history, the only default on interest payments and the largest inflation-adjusted decline in stocks and bonds in the country\u2019s history.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark\u2019s stock market has outperformed other European markets since World War II ended and has continued to do well in the twenty-first century.\u00a0\u00a0Denmark and Switzerland both show the benefits of neutrality when war surrounds them and taking advantage of international trade.\u00a0\u00a0Both countries are small and dependent on trade with other countries, and these facts are reflected in their stock market histories.<\/p>\n The first publication of Danish share prices occurred in 1759.\u00a0\u00a0Share prices were occasionally published along with commodity prices.\u00a0\u00a0In 1806, the newspapers began publishing bond prices as well, but up until 1813, the prices of stocks were more common than those of bonds.\u00a0\u00a0In the 1830s official price lists of stocks were published and in the 1850s, a broader range of stocks was published.<\/p>\n We have used a number of resources in order to put together a history of Danish stocks. Bent Stancke provided data on Copenhagen stocks from 1759 to 1830 in The Danish Stock Market 1750-1840<\/em>, published in Copenhagen in 1971.\u00a0\u00a0We consulted several newspapers including\u00a0Dagen<\/em>\u00a0(1835-1843),\u00a0Faedrelandet\u00a0<\/em>(1840-1852) and\u00a0Dagbladed<\/em>\u00a0of Copenhagen (1851-1872) to cover the period from 1836 to 1872. Data for individual companies from 1873 to 1912 was taken from various issues of Medarbejdere H. Green,\u00a0\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>, Copenhagen: L. Jorgensen, 1883-1912. Data on individual companies was also obtained from Danske Statistiske Department,\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>, Copenhagen: Statistiske Dept. from 1893 to 1937. By combining these sources together, we were able to put together data on Copenhagen stocks from 1759 to 1937.\u00a0\u00a0Danish bond prices were available from Amsterdam between 1788 and 1830.<\/p>\n Stancke provided information on several banks including the Kurantbanken (1736-1773), Speciesbanken (1791-1813) and Centralkassen (1829-1839), on several insurance companies, including the S\u00f8assurancekompagnie (1726-1927), Almindelig Brandassurance (1798-1891) and K\u00f8benhavns Mobel-Brandassurance (1778-1891) and several trading companies including the Det Kongelige Octroyerede Danske Asiatiske Kompagni (1732-1844), Det Almindelige Handelskompagnie (1747-1774) (The General Trading Co.), Det Ostersoisk-guineiske Kompagni (1781-1786) and Det vestindiske Handelskompagni (1778-1786).\u00a0\u00a0Periodic price data as well as shares outstanding data were provided, but limited information on dividends.<\/p>\n The newspapers provided periodic data on companies listed in Copenhagen, and data were collected each month on the last available date for that month.\u00a0\u00a0Data for the Danmarks Nationalbank was collected beginning in June 1837.\u00a0\u00a0Data for the K\u00f8benhavn-Roskilde Jernbane (Railroad) began in June 1845, but data for other companies didn\u2019t begin until September 1854 when prices for the three insurance companies mentioned above as well as the K\u00f8benhavns Tivoli and K\u00f8benhavns Kasino began. By 1871, data on 15 different companies was available.\u00a0\u00a0Green\u2019s Fonds og Aktier<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>\u00a0books provided comprehensive coverage of the Copenhagen stock exchange from 1873 to 1937 covering over 100 companies. The\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>\u00a0book provided price data, dividends and shares outstanding while the\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>\u00a0only provided price data and dividends.<\/p>\n Data before 1835 is periodic with the availability of data depending upon the year.\u00a0\u00a0There are multiple years when no data were available, such as 1776-1780 and 1791-1802 although no data were available after 1830.\u00a0\u00a0Monthly data are available from June 1836 to 1925 and bi-monthly to 1937.\u00a0\u00a0Monthly indices for the Copenhagen Stock Exchange were calculated beginning in 1921 and we were able to link up the indices GFD calculated based upon individual stocks to the real-time indices calculated in Copenhagen to provide a continuous series for stocks.<\/p>\n Newspapers: Dagen (1835-1843), Faedrelandet (1840-1852) and Dagbladed of Copenhagen (1851-1872)<\/p>\n Danmarks Nationalbank,\u00a0Danmarks Nationalbank, 1818-2018,\u00a0<\/em>Copenhagen<\/p>\n Danske Statistiske Department,\u00a0Statistisk Arbog<\/em>, Copenhagen: Statistiske Dept.<\/p>\n Green, Medarbejdere H.\u00a0\u00a0Fonds og Aktier<\/em>, Copenhagen: L. Jorgensen<\/p>\n League of Nations,\u00a0Monthly Bulletin of Statistics<\/em>, Geneva: League of Nations, 1922-1946<\/p>\n Maercher, Michael, Danish Banking Before and After the Napoleonic Wars: A Survey of Danish Banking, 1736-1857, memo<\/p>\n Stancke, Bent\u00a0The Danish Stock Market 1750-<\/em>, Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen Institute of Economic History, 1971<\/p>\n United Nations,\u00a0Monthly Bulletin of Statistics<\/em>, New York: UN, 1947-1975<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bryan Taylor, Chief Economist, Finaeon Denmark has one of the longest stock market histories of any country in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Data for Danish stocks begins…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insights","category-november-2022"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3426"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3489,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3426\/revisions\/3489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxrezmedia.com\/website_131ddb8a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Total Returns to Stocks, Bonds and Bills<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFinancial Market Performance in Denmark<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n\n
\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \u00a0<\/td>\n \n \n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \u00a0<\/td>\n \n \u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n
\n \n \n \n \n \n \u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \u00a0<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
Sources<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n