The Stock Market Crash of 1929

The U.S. stock market in early 1920's went through rapid expansion It reached its peak in August 1929. At that point, production had declined and the unemployment rate had risen. This left stocks in great excess of their real value. Some other causes of the market's collapse weres low wages, the enormous amount of debt, a struggling agriculture and an excess of large bank loans that could not be liquidated. In early October of 1929, the stock prices started to decline. People started to panic, and on October 24, a record 12,894,650 shares were traded. Investment companies and leading bankers attempted but failed, to stabilize the market by buying up great blocks of stock. The Monday after, the market fell. That date was referred to as Black Monday. It was followed by Black Tuesday (October 29). On Black Tuesday stock prices collapsed completely and around 16 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange that day. Billions of dollars were lost. Putting thousands of investors out of jobs and stock tickers ran hours behind because the machines couldn't handle the tremendous amount of trading. Many people lost their money and their jobs at the time. This was the time leading up to the Great Depression.