More Financial Urban Legends

In Urban Legends of the Stock Market, I wrote about some popular myths and rumors running around the internet regarding certain corporations. Now, with the help of the ever-popular Snopes.com, I bring you further alarming tales, some false, some true.

Is Caribou Coffee owned by an Islamic Bank?
Turns out this one is true. But lest everyone pitch their Caribou Coffee in a fit of misplaced patriotism, let's not forget that "bank" is not a synonym for "terrorist group." The First Islamic Investment Bank of Bahrain bought a controlling share of Caribou Coffee for $80 million in 2000. While the bank does make contributions to various Islamic charities, none are on the current list of charities banned under U.S. law.

SONY actually stands for Standard Oil of New York
Nope. SONY was a made up word for a company originally called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. It came out of the Latin sonus, for sound, and the English "sonny boy," which suggested youth and vitality.

Does Osama bin Laden own Snapple?
No, and for pity's sake, would people stop it with these rumors that every company they have a beef with must be owned by Osama? Snapple is owned by Cadbury Schweppes, the people who make tonic water and ginger ale, not bombs and threatening videos. There was a point at which Snapple contracted with a distributor in Saudi Arabia called Saudi Binladen, and that is probably where the confusion came from.

How about the KKK? Or anti-abortion groups? Do they own Snapple?
Nope again. Nor was Snapple brewed in South Africa during the apartheit years. You may drink your bottled tea in peace.

Is that email about all the sad fates of rich men from 1923 true?
Only partially. Some of these men did end up in jail, and a few committed suicide. But just because they died doesn't mean the ended up with sad fates. After all, they were mature men in 1923. If they were still alive today, that'd be something surprising. What's also unsurprising is that out of a long list of rich and successful people of any era, a few should turn out to have unpleasant ends. The same would be true of a list of poor or middle class people. Some people live life well, some do not, regardless of income.

Is it true that under U.S. law, no merchant has to accept more than 100 pennies as payment?
Nope. If you really, really wanted to pay for your Maserati all in pennies, you'd be within your legal rights to do so. Pennies are legal tender, and there is no legal limit on the number of pennies you can use in any one transaction.

Can I make money by joining the World Currency Cartel?
Nope. If it looks like a scam, and stinks like a scam, it's a scam. If you get a letter from these people urging you to join them (for a "small" fee), you can always send them all the Nigerian scam letters you've collected.

Do certain symbols on food packages mean that the manufacturers paid a secret tax to the Jews?
No, it means they've paid a secret tax to the "Help the Gullible" Network. Seriously, rumors about secret Jewish organizations "taking over" have been rampant for centuries. Yes, you will find the letter K on certain foods. It stands for "Kosher." A small "u" in a circle, or an OU, stands for Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, and indicates that the food was prepared under rabbinical supervision. A "D" or an "M" associated with it stands for dairy or meat, if these are ingredients in the product. "Parve" means "neutral," and indicates that the food has neither dairy nor meat, which is important for Jewish people as they prepare their food, since the two are not to be mixed. The symbols only mean that the foods so stamped are kosher, so Jewish people who observe the traditions around food can be informed about what's in the food. There is a small fee paid for Kosher certification, and that is probably the basis for the "secret Jewish tax" rumor. It's not a tax, and there's nothing secret about it.