Great Depression and the Stock Market Essay

During the 2nd half of the 19th century New York City became the central financial center of the United States. After that the New York Stock Exchange became the number one trading center. The reason for this being that its members focused on buying securities of larger corporations. At that time all the smaller stocks of smaller companies were handled on the streets of downtown New York City. In 1908 these brokers formed the New York Curb Agency which is now known as the American Stock Exchange. It was renamed to this in 1953.

During the 1920s Wall Street was representing the decade of expanding economic opportunity for every American. During 1927 some American banks failed due to bad investments and low prices for agricultural products. On Thursday October 1929 American stock market failed and millions of investors are plunged into bankruptcy. Over 12,894,650 shares changed hands, many at fire. About two months after the crash in October, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars. The slump was made worse by the share-buying fever that infected the country in the 1920s. Everyone wanted to make quick fortunes, therefore they bought company shares on margin. Competitive buying of the shares drove share prices high above their actual value. Then, when cautious

Many people up and left to move into the big cities, leaving many things behind. They thought they could make more money for less work by getting a job at the factories. People were running and telling about the amazing jobs the factories were giving them making more people come into the city (Document 2a). Companies in the city then grew larger causing a huge economic change in America, creating new jobs for all the new people moving to the cities. The men started to return from World War I and increased the employment rate while gaining profit for the people and the companies because of the production boom.

Prior to the Great Depression, America’s economy was prospering. After World War I, the United States’ economy expanded due to factors that include more railroads being developed, automobiles being developed and more international trade happening. The stock market was on the rise greatly improving the wealth of Americans all over. A lot of Americans had put their money into to the stock market as a way to gain money. Much of the money that Americans invested were borrowed money. Because a lot of the money that Americans invested was borrowed money and banks were putting their money in stocks, when the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929, millions of Americans lost their money. These were some of the factors that led to the time period known as the Great Depression. In response to the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt created a series of programs and

<br>Stock prices had been rising steadily since 1921, but in 1928 and 1929 they surged forward, with the average price of stocks rising over 40 percent. The stock market was totally unregulated. Margin buying in particular proceeded at a feverish pace as customers borrowed up to 75 percent of the purchase price of stocks. That easy credit lured more speculators and less creditworthy investors

America’s Great Depression is believed as having begun in 1929 with the Stock Market crash, and ending in 1941 with America’s entry into World War II. In order to fully comprehend the repercussions and devastating effects of the Crash of 1929, it is important to examine the factors that contributed to the catastrophic event which led to The Great Depression. The Great Depression was the worst economic slump in U.S. history, and it spread to most of the industrialized world. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s, and the

In its early years the automobile industry consisted of hundreds of firms, each producing a few models. William Durant, who bought and reorganized a failing Buick Motors in 1904, determined that if several automobile makers would unite, it would increase the protection for the group. He formed the General Motors Company in Flint, Michigan, in 1908.

Numerous individuals don't think about the principal vechicle of Chevrolet.Others know more about the main auto that Portage Worked in 1903. In 1911, The Chevrolet Engine Organization framed by a Belgian race auto driver named Louis Chevrolet.

hevrolet colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918 and propelled himself back to the GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose," would pick the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929. .[3]

Tons of people saw the stocks falling, literally. People were trying to hurry and get rid of their stocks they bought to try and save some of their money. When more and more people were getting rid of their stocks it just made the situation worst. J.P. Morgan tried to save the economy by putting billions of dollars in certain banks.

Prior to the crash, the roaring twenties built up the stock market. It was a time of wealth, success, and triumph. It all began with an enormous drop in the market. Panic flooded throughout the entire United States causing millions of people to pull out, in attempt to keep the little money they had left. (Colombo)

General Motors was founded by William Durant on September 16, 1908. At its inception, GM owned only the Buick Motor Company, but acquired Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Pontiac within ten years of its formation. Demand for automobiles heightened between 1910-1929, allowing General Motors to set the standard for production, design and marketing innovation. GM diversified their selection and opened more than a dozen new plants outside of the United States. In 1927, the head of GM's design studio, Harley Earl, designed the LaSalle which marked the beginning of true automotive design as it was far less boxy than the Ford Model T. "In 1940, former GM President William Knudesen was chosen by President Roosevelt as Chairman

It was 1929, and in the United States things could not be better for those smart enough, or for that matter, brave enough, to gamble on the Stock Market. All of the big stocks were paying off handsomely, the little ones too. However, as much as analysis tried to tell the people that this period of great wealth would last, no one could imagine what would come of the United States economy in the next decade. The reasons for this catastrophic event in American 20th century history are numerous, and in his book, The Great Crash, John Kenneth Galbraith covers the period and events which lead up to the downward spiral in the fall of 1929 and the people behind the scenes on Wall Street who helped this fire spread.

In those days and all the way until the last half of the 20th century, the only way to operate in the stock market, was trough the assistance of an intermediary, a broker.

Gittman (2004, pp. 312) divided stock into two types, such as common stock and preferred stock. He also showed that dividends are the outcome of investment. So, common stocks are an ownership claim against primarily real or productive asset (Higgins, 1995), but he also said that if the company prospers, stockholders are the chief beneficiaries, if it falters, they are the chief losers. Smith (1988) presented that stocks are one of the most popular forms of investment. People buy stocks for various reasons: some are interested in the long-term growth of their investment by buying low priced stock of a new company in the hope of substantially growth of share price over the next few years. Another reason he suggested that in a well established firm stockholders expect the stock growth will be stable over the long run. (Smith,1988).