Monday: Bullish market birthday and Barbie’s too

By Dian Vujovich

March 9 is a big day for birthdays if you’re counting index bulls on Wall Street and are a fan of Barbie. I’m not sure which one is more important —but maybe it’s Barbie.

Beginning with plastics, it was on March 9, 1959 that the first Barbie showed up at the American Toy Fair in New York City.

Modeled after a German comic strip character named Lilly, Barbie was first marketed “as a racy gag gift to adult men in tobacco shops,” according to History.com. Seems men have always had a penchant for enjoying that big-busted, skinny wasted, long-legged look. Oh, well, what can I say.

Anyhow, Mattel bought the rights to the doll, changed her name to Barbara, the name of Mattel’s co-founder’s daughter, and Barbie became the first mass-marketed doll in America. It was also the first toy company to broadcast TV commercials aimed at children.

Although the first Barbie’s sold for $3, prices now for the first 11-inch dolls are in the thousands-of-dollars range. According to a Mattel rep quoted in a Mashable.com story published on 3/9/14: “The most expensive Barbie in existence was designed by Australian jeweler Stefano Canturi. Dripping in a bevy of white and pink diamonds, the doll was sold in an auction for a whopping $302,500.”

That particular Barbie was created to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. And that it did.

As for raising the money portion of our investment portfolios, the Bespoke Investment Group reports that today marks the six-year anniversary of the S&P 500’s 3/9/09/ bear market low.

From the Bespoke Report: “Since its beginning at the close on March 9th, 2009, the current bull market has lasted 2,184 days (through the 3/2/15 closing high), and the S&P has gained 212.98% over this time period. The 212.98% gain for this bull market is also the 4th strongest on record.”

Then again, if the S&P 500 closes at a new high today, out goes this birthday-high news and all that we’ll be left with is Barbie. Who now, at age 56, happens to be old enough to be called an old broad and like the stock market continues to be a source of constant fantasy.