The Stock Market Crash Of 1929, By Brenda Lange

Imagine this. You wake up one morning in the year 1929, in your luxurious, pricey mansion. You then make your way downstairs to eat that nice big breakfast. Then you kiss your family good bye and head off to your fancy job. You come home that evening and suddenly you’re flat broke. Meaning all your money and life’s savings vanished. Unreal right? Well it was real for hundreds of families on October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and when America’s confidence was challenged greatly.

The stock market collapse was one of the most important events, in the country economy during 1929, which led the Great Depression. Before October 29, 1929, most Americans believe that stock was the key to success and fortune. John T. Raskob affirms his belief that everyone could be

The stock market crash of 1929, additionally called the Great Crash, was a sharp decrease in U.S. stock exchange values in 1929 that added to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The market accident was a consequence of various economic imbalances and structural failings (Pettinger). In the 1920s, there was a fast development in bank credit and advances. Energized by the quality of the economy, individuals felt the share

Many people believe the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression are one in the same. In the nineteen twenties the Dow Jones went from sixty to four hundred. People became instant millionaires. Trading became America’s favorite pastime and a quick way to get rich. There were Americans mortgaging their home and investing their life savings in stock such as ford. However, there were many fake companies that formed to deceive the inexperience investors. Many investors did not believe that a crash was possible; they all thought the market would always go up.

The Great Crash also known as Stock market crash of 1929, happened in 1929 which was one of the biggest and important history of America. During this time in late October the stock market of the country crashed which lead to the beginning of great depression, and it has lasted for 10 years. Many countries got affected due to the great crash, especially all Western industrialized countries. “Black Tuesday (October 29), in which stock prices collapsed completely and 16,410,030 shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day.” (“Stock”). After the crash, the country had tried to cope up from the loss, but it still continued to drop. “By 1932 stocks were worth only about 20 percent of their value in the summer of 1929. (“Stock”). Due to this depression, nearly half of the banks failed, businessman faced bankrupts and people have lost their

After October 29, 1929 stock prices had nowhere to go but up, so there was considerable recovery during succeeding weeks. Within three hours the market had lost $11 billion in values. During the 1920’s the stock market and it’s investors enjoyed a streak gains, with the overall value of the stock market increases by four times the value. From September to October, the stock market had lost more than $30 billion dollars in value, remember this was in the 1920’s. The U.S stock market crashes on Black Tuesday.The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as Black Tuesday October 29, the Great Crash, or the Stock Market Crash of 1929, began on October 24, 1929 ("Black Thursday"), and was the most devastating stock market crash in the U.S history, when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its aftereffects.The crash

While there may be some arguments among historians, speculation is obviously one of the major causes of the Crash. Speculation (In the context of the stock market) is the buying of stocks with the purpose of profiting not from the dividends that the stock pays, but by the fluctuations in the price (Axon 31). Speculation is often looked down upon by the market as a profession, as it is seen as a form of gambling with possible serious repercussions. The secret is that speculation is actually

There were many historical circumstances that caused the failure of the stock market in 1929. One of the major reasons for this collapse was speculation and irrational exuberance of the stock market in the 1920s. The stock market boosted the confidence of many individuals in the United States for gaining tremendous wealth because of its growing success in the economy. Therefore, many people placed

The epic boom ended in a catastrophic bust. On Black Monday, October 28, 1929, the Dow (stock market index) declined by nearly 13 percent. On the following day, Black Tuesday, the market dropped nearly 12 percent. By mid-November, the Dow had lost almost half of its value. The slide continued through the summer of 1932, when the Dow closed at 41.22, its lowest value of the twentieth century, 89 percent below its peak. The Dow did not return to its pre-crash heights until November 1954. In the end, the stock market lost $30 billion in market value which would be equivalent to about $396 billion today. That is more than the total cost of World War I. The crash was the worst in U.S. history. It destroyed not only the confidence in Wall Street markets but it also undeniably led to the Great

In October 1929, the stock market crashed causing thousands of people to lose their jobs.

There were additional signs by the spring of 1929 signaled a serious setback in the American economy. There were also a few trustworthy people warning about the future, big crash. As a month or two passed by, those people who warned the investors were labeled doubters and neglected. When the market surged forward throughout the summer of 1929, the mini-crash and the pessimists were both almost forgotten. The stock prices reached their peak from June through August of 1929. The constant increase of stocks was unavoidable to many. “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau,” economist Irving Fisher stated what many investors desired to believe. The stock market reached its highest with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 381.17 on September 3, 1929. The market started its downward drop few days later. The prices vacillated during September and into October until the final downfall on Black Thursday. Thursday, October 24, 1929, the market prices dropped.

economy, people began buying stocks on the margin. They would borrow most of the stock’s price from a stockbroker and only pay a little bit of the price. If the stock prices kept rising, this system would work well, but if the prices fell, people could not pay the loan back. Near the end of the 1929 year, prices were too high, so people wanted to sell their stocks. They thought the prices would lower soon. Stock prices did go lower and people were not buying. They all wanted to sell their stocks. Prices went even lower on October 29, where 16 million stocks were sold. This caused the collapse of the market.

It is often said that perception outweighs reality and that is often the view of the stock market. News that a certain stock may be on the rise can set off a buying spree, while a tip that one may be on decline might entice people to sell. The fact that no one really knows what is going to happen one way or the other is inconsequential. John Kenneth Galbraith uses the concept of speculation as a major theme in his book The Great Crash 1929. Galbraith’s portrayal of the market before the crash focuses largely on massive speculation of overvalued stocks which were inevitably going to topple and take the wealth of the shareholders down with it. After all, the prices could not continue to go up forever. Widespread speculation was no doubt a

The year was 1928 and the American economy was thriving like it had never been before. With Henry Ford’s sponsorship of the assembly line, the automobile industry was rising and vehicles were becoming more affordable. The end of World War I was also having a positive effect on the American economy. The events leading to the crash of ’29 were recognizable and now as economists look back some ask how did we as a nation not see this coming? The actual crash did not occur overnight, it lasted over the span of five days, days that America will never forget.

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.