Share This Article

Facebook LinkedIn
Twitter Reddit
Print Email
Pinterest Gmail
Yahoo
Money Morning
×
  • Invest
    • Best Stocks to Buy
    • Stock Forecasts
    • Stocks to Sell Now
    • Stock Market Predictions
    • Technology Stocks
    • Best REITs to Buy Now
    • IPO Stocks
    • Penny Stocks
    • Dividend Stocks
    • Cryptocurrencies
    • Cannabis Investing
    • AI Investing
  • Trade
    • How to Trade Options
    • Best Trades to Make Now
    • Options Trading Strategies
    • Weekly Trade Recommendations
  • Retire
    • Income Investing Guide
    • Retirement Articles
  • More
    • Money Morning LIVE
    • Special Investing Reports
    • Our ELetters
    • Our Premium Services
    • Videos
    • Meet Our Experts
    • Profit Academy
    • Postcards
Login Archives Your Team About Us FAQ
  • Invest
    • Best Stocks to Buy
    • Stock Forecasts
    • Stocks to Sell Now
    • Stock Market Predictions
    • Technology Stocks
    • Best REITs to Buy Now
    • IPO Stocks
    • Penny Stocks
    • Dividend Stocks
    • Cryptocurrencies
    • Cannabis Investing
    • AI Investing
    ×
  • Trade
    • How to Trade Options
    • Best Trades to Make Now
    • Options Trading Strategies
    • Weekly Trade Recommendations
    ×
  • Retire
    • Income Investing Guide
    • Retirement Articles
    ×
  • More
    • Money Morning LIVE
    • Special Investing Reports
    • Our ELetters
    • Our Premium Services
    • Videos
    • Meet Our Experts
    • Profit Academy
    • Postcards
    ×
  • Subscribe
Enter stock ticker or keyword
×
Join 100,000+ Like-Minded Investors Today
Twitter
Tags: U.S. Economy

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

The first in our series documenting the greatest Wall Street crashes of all time...

By Tara Clarke, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @TaraKateClarke • May 27, 2015

Start the conversation

Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

stock market crash of 1929
Click to Enlarge

We begin our stock market crash history series with the most devastating in terms of duration and extent: the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929, marks the crescendo of this crash. On that day alone, the Dow dropped 12% (30 points) and 16 million stock shares exchanged hands - although for some investors, there were absolutely no buyers to sell to.

When the dust settled, more than $30 billion (roughly $350 billion in today's dollars) in wealth had been obliterated.

wall street crash of 1929But one thing that made the Stock Market Crash of 1929 truly devastating was that it drew out far longer than a single day...

In fact, the second-, third-, and fourth-worst stock market crashes (as measured by daily percentage losses) in Dow Jones Industrial Average history all occurred in 1929.  Even the sixth- and 10th-worst crashes, on Aug. 12, 1932, and July 21, 1933, stem from volatility in the wake of the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

The Dow sank a total 48% from September to November 1929 and kicked off the 10-year-long Great Depression. It lost another 86% from April 1930 to July 1932 in the crash's aftermath.

Behind the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was a phenomenon that may be more familiar than you'd like...

What Caused the Stock Market Crash of 1929?

A speculative bubble - in the manufacturing industry - took hold in the 1920s.

In the first six months of 1926 alone, combined net profits of 536 manufacturing and trading companies increased 36.6%. The Dow Jones gained more than 20% between June and September 1929. The Roaring Twenties were riding high on encouraging share prices and the end of World War I. The stock market increased 10-fold in nine years.

wall street crash of 1929
Professor and economist Irving Fisher, 1927

"Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau," popular American economist Irving Fisher told the public three days before the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

"Given the chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation," then-President Herbert Hoover said months before the crash. "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land."

His second-term presidential campaign in 1928 ran on the idea there would be "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage."

People poured wealth into the market, even borrowing money to invest. In 1929 before the crash, two out of every five dollars a bank loaned were used to purchase stocks. More than $8.5 billion was out on loan - more than the entire amount of U.S. currency in circulation at the time.

But what (falsely) goes up must come down - and it did so, with theatrical tragedy...

Here Are 10 “One-Click” Ways to Earn 10% or Better on Your Money Every Quarter

Appreciation is great, but it’s possible to get even more out of the shares you own. A lot more: you can easily beat inflation and collect regular income to spare. There are no complicated trades to put on, no high-level options clearances necessary. In fact, you can do this with a couple of mouse clicks – passive income redefined. Click here for the report…

Claim My Free Report

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
guest

guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments


Latest News

September 14, 2023 • By Tom Gentile

Tulips Are the Secret to Trading the Next 300% Rally in AI

September 14, 2023 • By Chris Johnson

Tulips Are Telling Me How To Trade the Next 300% rally in AI

September 14, 2023 • By Garrett Baldwin

This Is My Biggest Economic Fear
Trending Stories
ABOUT MONEY MORNING

Money Morning gives you access to a team of market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free. Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors.

QUICK LINKS
About Us COVID-19 Announcements How Money Morning Works FAQs Contact Us Search Article Archive Forgot Username/Password Archives Profit Academy Research Your Team Videos Text Messaging Terms of Use
FREE NEWSLETTERS
Total Wealth Research Power Profit Trades Penny Hawk Midday Momentum
PREMIUM SERVICES
Money Map Press Home Money Map Report Fast Fortune Club Weekly Cash Clock Microcurrency Trader Hyperdrive Portfolio Rocket Wealth Initiative Quantum Data Profits Flashpoint Trader Darknet Alpha Accelerators Brutus Alerts Resource Traders Alliance L.A.U.N.C.H. Investor Rob Roy Trader Long-Term Equity Profits

© 2023 Money Morning All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including the world wide web), of content from this webpage, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Money Morning.

Address: 1125 N Charles St. | Baltimore, MD, 21201 | USA | Phone: 888.384.8339 | Disclaimer | Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Whitelist Us | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

wpDiscuz