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Black Tuesday Journal Entry

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The sun peeks through my cardboard plywood tent. My burlap pillow scratches against my skin and the frosty breeze penetrates my flimsy blanket. I used to sleep on the softest of silk sheets covered by a thick comforter stuffed with goose feathers. I lived in a sizable house with my wife and worked on Wall Street making some real good money. The Dow sure was kind to me. The market was a bull market. I had so much confidence in that market that I bought a great deal of stocks on margin. I would have sworn on my life that I would earn back the money I borrowed and then some. Clearly, that didn’t happen. On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday, I lost everything. It seemed as if on that day the whole country sold their stocks. Logically, prices plummeted. My shares became virtually worthless. All of my money was invested in the market, so when the market went down the drain, my money and essentially my life followed. Unable to pay back what I owed, the bank foreclosed on my home. Needing a man that could provide for her, my wife left me for a doctor. In a matter of months, I went from the high man on the totem bowl, to a homeless bum living in a shanty town. …show more content…

When I built this place I really tried to make it comfortable I found some old wooden poles and carved the end into a stake. I then fashioned a little lean to out of plywood and cardboard. Then, I fashioned a bed out of old burlap sacks. Lastly, I took some of that burlap and painted on it “capitalism will save us all” and I hung that on the side of my new home. I did that so I would not lose hope. Even though the American Economy has not treated me kindly recently, I have faith that can turn around. I have faith I can pull myself out of the hole I am

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