How to Buy or Sell — Stocks and Bonds

It seems that everyone who survived the stock market crash of 1929 had some stocks or bonds that, although worthless, were saved. Today there are two possible values for these old stocks. A few might have value due to a company merger or acquisition. The worthless company or mines may have merged, been sold, found gold, or become part of a valuable company in some other way. To learn if you own stocks or bonds of value, first try your library. Look in The Directory of Obsolete Securities (Financial Information, Inc.), no longer published but may be available via your library; The Capital Changes Reporter (Commerce Clearing House, now Wolters Kluwer). This is an expensive service that may be available through your library. Or try tracking mergers through the Standard & Poor’s, Standardandpoors.com, or Moody’s, Moodys.com, directories. It is also possible to find a company that will research your stock for a fee. Photo: Morphy Auctions