26 February 1995: Barings collapses after one trader's bets
Barings, Britain's oldest merchant bank, collapsed after rogue trader Nick Leeson racked up losses of more than 800 million pounds on Japanese stock futures from its Singapore office. He had hidden losses in a secret account while managers celebrated his profits. The Kobe earthquake in January sank his positions. Dutch bank ING bought what was left of Barings for one pound.
The lesson: If one employee's profits seem too good to question, that is exactly when to question them.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in ING at the start of 2000 → $382 today, vs $4,626 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 2000, the first year in our price data after the event. That is a loss of $618, while a plain index fund over the same years made $3,626.
What ING teaches: Bank shares can fall far more than their earnings suggest when hidden balance-sheet risks emerge, and bailouts protect depositors rather than shareholders.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $55.00 | $382 | $4,626 |
| 2003 | $16.00 | $1,312 | $7,727 |
| 2005 | $22.00 | $955 | $5,763 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought ING? Every starting year and the full story →
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
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