Rumor is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “an unverified or unconfirmed statement or report circulating in a community.” In the financial community, rumors have an effect on the direction of markets. The New York Stock Exchange in the United States is the epitome of how rumors can impact trade. The fluctuation of stock and commodity (raw material) prices on a daily basis is, in part, due to the daily news cycle. Although reports by news companies are supposed to be factual, statements made can be unverified. Because of the large scale of social media, anyone can make up rumors that can go viral. Stock traders rely on the news to determine what stocks they will buy or sell. News reports include important information such as: new product developments, company restructures, commodity reports, and scandals. Because of the rapid news, trading on the stock market happens very fast and it gets chaotic. As the buyers and sellers interact their process sets the stock price. The news effects the stock price because if a positive story circulates, there will be more buyers for a stock, which will raise the stock price; if a negative story circulates, there will be fewer buyers, which will lower the stock price. This constant process can either earn a big payday or be a total loss. Because of the money that people stand to either make or loose, rumors have an effect on the way individuals behave on the stock market.
To better understand how rumors work within the financial
There are millions of ways to make money in the world. Every day millions of people invest their money in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). On average, there are five trillion dollars in stocks traded daily (Picardo).This is one of the reasons America has the largest economy in the world. The stock market creates jobs for thousands of people and has done nothing but show a steady increase since the day it opened (Knight). Wall Street symbolizes the way America’s economy is a free market. The stock market affects almost everybody, not only in America but all over the planet.
During the 1920's millions of Americans began investing in stocks for the first time. They heard about how rich people were getting by investing so they all decided to do it. Many new investors entered the stock market using borrowed money. Stock market prices rose steadily as inflated market demand outpaced increases in the capital value of businesses. Investors began to realize that a large imbalance existed between stock prices and the amount of money needed to back them up, and began to sell. On October 29, 1929, great numbers of people tried to sell their stocks all at once. This created chaos in the accounting of stocks and for brokers. The New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges prices dropped so dramatically that this event became known as the crash of 1929. Millions of investors lost their savings in the crash and many were deeply in debt since
In Document 5, by Harry J. Carman and Harold C Syrett, A History of the American People, 1952, stated that, “As more investors put their money into securities (stocks) in the hope of making a quick profit on a speculative rise in stocks,... the exchange became a betting ring where people gambled on stocks in much the same fashion that gamblers wagered on roulette or horse races.” Investors would buy shares not knowing if the company would make a profit, making it dangerous. Stocks would go up because buyers believed that they will be able to sell it for more next time. When things are going well, consumer confidence is high and people buy.
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
However, if the news is based just on rumors, what would it be? It would turn out fake news. The recent memorable incident relating to the fake news would be during the 2016 US presidential campaign. In “The Journal of Economic Perspectives,” Enrico Moretti and Gordon Hanson state that fake news had some influence over the election result that Trump became the US president (Moretti and Hanson. 235). They also mention that they discover 41 articles which support Clinton or are against Trump and 115 articles which support Trump and are against Clinton (Moretti and Hanson. 225). These pro-Clinton articles were shared on Facebook 7.6 million times and these pro-Trump articles were shared 30.3 million times (Moretti and Hanson. 225). What makes surprising about this fact is those articles later turned out to be fake news. Before the news about Clinton’s scandals was leaked, there were much less of people who would vote for Trump and much less of fake news criticizing her. Nonetheless, her scandals came out, those fake news based on rumors increased the number. People read them out of their curiosity and shared them in a second.
The majority of people started selling their stocks and brokers sent out margin calls. People throughout the country watched the ticker (stock pricing machine) as the numbers meant their fate. The prices were falling down so quickly that the ticker fell behind. Stunned at the sudden crash, a crowd gathered outside the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. Rumors spread that people were committing suicides, but none of them was true. It was a great relief when the panic decreased later as the day progressed. Large sums of money were invested by group of bankers just to convince others to stop selling their stocks. By the end of the day, people started buying stocks at “bargain prices.” On October 24th, double numbers of shares were sold, breaking the previous record. The stock market fell again four days later. An unexpected drop in the stock prices through a large section of the stock market is called a stock market crash. Usually during high economic periods, become greater than their original value, but if this fades; then the market investors would have to sell their stocks at a lesser value. As the stock prices decline, panic sales can set in causing the market to
Some Robber Barons manipulated the stock
For many people, the star market is a popular method for obtaining money quickly. Despite the risks, many people invest their money in stocks. The stock market allows the public to buy shares of a company, or a stock. These shares come in the form of an official document, and grants you a small fraction of the company you invested in. As companies do well, their stocks are worth more. Stocks can be bought and sold through the help of a stockbroker. The goal is to buy a share of a company, then later sell the share for more money than you bought it for. However, the market is risky; this is proven by multiple crashes in the market, resulting in loss of money.
“[It] marked a fundamental break in U.S. history, a drastic change in basic attitudes and institutions that define the roles of citizen and state” (Reynolds 1416). On October 29, 1929, the U.S. Stock Market crashed, or the “the value of stock fell quickly” (Arnesen 36). This occurred after years of massive speculation, which was the purchase of high-risk stocks for a high return. In all actuality, the downward spiral began on October 18, when stocks first declined. The destabilization of the market convinced stockholders to begin pulling out their funds; they also traded stock for a lower amount in value, so shareholders lost the full value of their investments. This “panic” came to fruition on October 24, Black Thursday;
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 stock market is what one would know as a collective group of buyers/sellers that trade stocks, also known as shares on a stock exchange. These securities are listed on the exchange itself and trade freely each and every day. On the exchange, stocks move hands day in and day out. Companies are able to get their stock listed on the exchange at any time that they want. There are other stocks, too...known as OTC stocks or over the counter stocks that go through a specific dealer. Larger companies tend to have their stocks listed on exchanges all throughout the world. Participants in the market can be anyone from your grandma, to retail investors, day traders, institutional investors, and so forth. One notable exchange is the NYSE; also known as The New York Stock Exchange. Moving forward, a stock market crash is when a decline of stock prices takes place throughout the stock market that results in a catastrophic loss of wealth via paper. The crashes are driven strictly by panic 9 times out of 10 a crash takes place. As a crash is happening, panic occurs; the panic keeps evolving and ends up like the snowball effect before you know it. A crash occurs when economic events take place. These events are always bad news... The behavior of traders follows, which leads to a crash when panic ensues. Crashes normally occur of a seven day period and may extend even further. Crashes happen in bear markets as the market is already weak to begin with. Once traders see a drop in prices,
A rumor can be classified as a special case of informal social communications that include myth, legend, and current humor. Rumors have three basic characteristics to them. The first is mode transmission which is usually done through word of mouth. The second characteristic is that they provide information, ranging from a particular person, an event, or condition. Lastly, the third characteristic is that a rumor satisfies mythology, folklore, and humor. Rumors have the
More recently, Kim & Zhang (2015) have found a an empirical evidence that releasing the accumulated bad news all at once would lead to stock price crashes. They find a negative association between the degree (changes) of conditional conservatism and the likelihood (changes) of a firm experiencing future stock price crashes and this association is more pronounced in an environment with higher information asymmetries.
The Stock Market is a vast and confusing setting. It has influence on many aspects of the economy like pensions, bond markets, and even retirement accounts. However, many aren 't educated about how the Stock market works, how it affects the economy, the difference between stocks versus bond and mutual funds, nor the amount of illegal activities taking part within the stock market.