Abstract: Periodicals are one of the most important sources of stock market history. By studying them, we can gain valuable information. from newspaper issues about the dynamics of stock prices, the agendas of shareholder meetings, and the balance sheets of commercial banks. Periodicals formed the information field of bidders, often setting the mood of the market. In this article, we would like to outline in detail how discussions about state regulation of the Russian Empire's stock market and securities speculation unfolded on the pages of one of the main stock market newspapers, Birzhevye Vedomosti, at the beginning of the 20th century. It seems productive to try to analyze which issues from the life of the stock market were of concern to readers in principle and, accordingly, were reflected in the texts of relevant newspapers. From the point of view of institutional analysis, it is extremely interesting to clarify the expectations of bidders from the regulatory authorities represented by the Ministry of Finance and exchange committees. In the presented article, the forms of displaying stock market life on the pages of the newspaper "Birzhevye Vedomosti" in the early 20th century were considered in detail. To summarize the results of the study briefly, it can be said unequivocally that the average bidder perceived the process of stock trading mainly through the prism of periodicals. Shareholders were informed about the results of the meetings through newspapers; the stock exchange chronicler briefly recounted the results of the trading day; reports to the State Duma on stock market regulation were published in the relevant columns. By studying the financial history at the micro level of individual stock market agents, we must strive to reliably restore the information field in which the bidders were. And as our analysis has shown, in any such study it is impossible to do without referring to the materials of the periodical press.
Periodicals represent one of the most significant sources for reconstructing the history of stock markets. Through their study, valuable insights can be gleaned regarding the dynamics of stock prices, the proceedings of shareholder meetings, and the financial statements of commercial banks. Periodicals played a pivotal role in shaping the informational landscape for market participants, often influencing the overall sentiment of the market. This article aims to provide a detailed examination of how discussions concerning state regulation of the Russian Empire’s stock market and securities speculation were articulated in one of the leading financial newspapers of the time, Birzhevye Vedomosti, during the early 20th century. It is particularly instructive to analyze which aspects of stock market activity captured the attention of readers and, consequently, were prominently featured in the pages of such newspapers.
From the perspective of institutional analysis, it is of considerable interest to explore the expectations of market participants regarding regulatory authorities, particularly the Ministry of Finance and exchange committees. This article delves into the ways in which the life of the stock market was portrayed in Birzhevye Vedomosti during the early 20th century. To summarize the findings briefly, it is evident that the average market participant primarily perceived the stock trading process through the lens of periodicals. Shareholders relied on newspapers to stay informed about the outcomes of meetings, while stock exchange chroniclers provided concise summaries of daily trading activities. Additionally, reports on stock market regulation submitted to the State Duma were published in dedicated columns.

Abstract: The key task of the presented article is to test how we can analyze the information potential of a historical sources collection by using thematic modeling. Some modern collections of digitized historical materials number tens of thousands of documents, and at the level of an individual researcher, it is difficult to cover available funds. Following a number of researchers, we suggest that thematic modeling can become a convenient tool for preliminary assessment of the content of a collection of historical documents; can become a tool for selecting only those documents that contain information relevant to the research tasks. In our case, the Birzhevye Vedomosti newspaper was chosen as one of the main collection of historical documents. At this stage, we can confirm that in our study, the use of topic modeling proved to be a productive solution for optimizing the process of searching for historical documents in a large collection of digitized historical materials. At the same time, it should be emphasized that in our work topic modeling was used exclusively as an applied tool for primary assessment of the information potential of a documents collection through the analysis of selected topics. Our experience has shown that, at least for Birzhevye Vedomosti, topic modeling with LDA does not allow us to draw conclusions from the standpoint of our content analysis methodology. The data of our models are too fragmentary, it can only be used for the initial assessment of the topics describing the information contained in the source.

Abstract: The article studies St. Petersburg Stock Exchange speculator’s economic thinking at the beginning of the 20th century. It finds out how market participants analyzed fundamental (or economic) and speculative / irrational pricing factors to make trade decisions. The author primarily addresses the way the market was perceived by its agents. He makes content analysis and network analysis to create the matrix of perception by identifying connections in categories of economic thinking. The main idea of the study is its address to the level of trade decision formation. Describing the stock exchange life in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, the author attempts to see how trade participants understood the way the stock exchange market functioned. Based on the results of the study, two key findings are formulated. According to I.P. Manus, the fundamental factors of the economic process are a part of the concept of the perfect economy which the real economy strives for. The main distortion that prevents this utopia from coming true is the human factor: the desire for easy money that leads one to a financial crime; artificially maintained information asymmetry; the stupidity and emotionality of the "crowd" which is the "eternal" victim of a cynical speculator, etc. At the same time, it turned out that any speculative strategy presupposes (in the reflexive model of Manus) the exploitation of fundamental mechanisms (such as "liquidity" or "supply volume") through the creation of barriers to the functioning of the perfect economy.