Here's Why I'm Not The Richest Man In The World

And technical analysis of Getty Images (GETY)

The Tragedy of the World’s Richest Family

When he was 16-years-old, John Paul Getty III was kidnapped by an Italian organized crime ring called the “‘Ndrangheta” while at the Piazza Farnese in Rome.

John Paul Getty III was the grandson of one of the world’s richest men. He was set to inherit the massive Getty fortune.

The family made their money in the early 1950s when John Paul Getty III’s grandfather, J. Paul Getty, established the Getty Oil Company. At the time, it was one of the largest companies in the United States.

J. Paul Getty rose through the ranks of wealth. He was born in the U.S. but moved to the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. He passed down his love for the British Isles to his son, J. Paul Getty Jr., who was a philanthropist.

Then, John Paul Getty III was born. Starting at a young age, he was somewhat of an embarrassment to the family.

He was raised in Rome and was expelled from multiple English boarding schools, once for painting the hallway of a school.

By the age of 15, Getty III frequently partied at nightclubs and drank and smoked heavily. He sold art and jewelry he created himself, as well as posed nude for magazines to support himself.

At one point, he was arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a left-wing demonstration and for smashing vehicles.

During this period of his life, he was kidnapped by the ‘Ndrangheta. Two days after Getty III disappeared, his mother received an anonymous phone call demanding $17 million in exchange for his safe return.

However, his mother had been divorced from his father, J. Paul Getty Jr., for over nine years and did not have that kind of money. The kidnappers told her to “get it from London,” which was where her ex-husband and ex-father-in-law lived.

Many family members and police officers doubted that he had really been kidnapped. Getty III had often joked about faking his own kidnapping to get some money from his grandfather. But as the days went on, the demands continued. Everyone realized the situation was actually serious.

Getty Jr. did not have $17 million, so he asked his father for help. By then, J. Paul Getty was 80-years-old. He denied the request, saying, “I have 14 other grandchildren, and if I pay one penny now, then I will have 14 kidnapped grandchildren.”

During the negotiations between his family and the kidnappers, Getty III was kept in a cave in the Calabrian Mountains.

He was beaten and tortured regularly. Four months after he was first abducted, the kidnappers decided to show the family they meant business.

They cut off the boy’s ear and sent it to a local newspaper, along with a lock of his hair and a note that read, “This is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get some money within 10 days, the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little pieces.”

J. Paul Getty finally agreed to pay the kidnappers. He was able to cut a deal with the kidnappers and ended up giving them just under $3 million. He required his son to pay back the ransom money at a rate of four percent interest.

On December 15, 1973, Getty III was discovered on a snowy motorway between Rome and Naples shortly after the ransom was delivered. His ear was reconstructed through several surgeries.

Later, nine of the kidnappers were arrested, but only two of them were convicted. The traumatic incident caused Getty III to succumb to alcoholism and drug addiction. In 1981, Getty III had a stroke that left him quadriplegic and partially blind. He was only 25-years-old.

He never fully recovered and died in 2011 at the age of 54 due to complications from the stroke.

Technical Analysis of Getty (GETY) Stock

Shares of Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY) are blasting off Tuesday. The company announced that it is merging with Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK). This will create a $3.7 billion visual content company.

The chart of Getty illustrates an important market dynamic. Even when there is major fundamental news, technicals can still come into play.

In the market, certain price levels are more important than others. This can be seen on the chart. The $3.85 level has been important for Getty since July.

It was resistance then, in August, and again in September. Then it converted into support in October. Now it has become resistance once more.

Despite the significant fundamental news regarding the merger, as you can see on the chart the shares hit resistance this morning at $3.87 before reversing. This shows how precise trading action can be around these important levels.

Traders and investors who paid $3.85 for shares in October were happy that they did so when the stock trended higher soon after.

But in November it reversed and broke the support. A large move lower followed. When this happened, some of these traders and investors thought their decision to buy was a mistake. They experienced ‘buyer’s remorse’.

Many of them decided that they would hold onto their shares, but if they could eventually exit their positions without losing money they would do so.

As a result, this morning when the stock rallied back to levels around $3.85, these remorseful buyers placed sell orders. The large concentration of these orders created resistance at the same price that was support and at least for now, has put a ceiling on Getty.

Sometimes when a stock reaches resistance, a selloff follows.

This happens when some who wish to sell at the resistance become concerned that other sellers will undercut them. They know the buyers will go to whoever is willing to sell at the lowest price.

They don’t want to miss the trade, so they reduce the prices they are willing to sell their shares for. Other concerned sellers see this and do the same thing. It can create a snowball effect that pushes the price lower.

This is what happened when Getty reached the $3.85 resistance in July, August, and September and it appears to be the case now.

In the stock market, there may be important news that can lead to significant moves. But as the chart of Getty illustrates, technical dynamics can still be important and affect the price action.

https://www.benzinga.com/author/mark-putrino