What Went Into The Stock Market Crash Of 1929

What went into the stock market crash of 1929 -- which was also thought to be one of the hammer blows that led to the Great Depression -- was a combination of many things, including timidity on the part of some and rational over exuberance on the part of others. This includes the federal government, the New York Stock Exchange and its officers and the wild panic on the part of many investors.

The stock market during the 1920s was considered to be in a boom or "bull" cycle that didn't seem to really have an end. There was a great deal of exuberance on the part of investors, though the markets were always considered to be somewhat of a risky investment in those days. More and more people entered the markets, meaning stock prices kept rising ever higher.

By 1928, the markets were writing extremely high and a full on boom was in evidence. Of course, this couldn't be sustained forever, though all of the everyday people who were investing their savings in the markets for short-term profit taking certainly thought it would be so. Beginning in 1929, though, the markets were so overheated that a downward correction was inevitable and it soon began to occur.

The summer of 1929 saw a small boom that was just the precursor to the big crash that occurred in October of that year. Around about September 5, after the market had reached its peak, there was a noticeable but gradual decline throughout much of September and October. On Thursday, October 24th, 1929 the bottom again began to drop out of the market in a big way. This day is known as "Black Thursday."

That day was mainly due to a great amount of selloffs of stock due to a large number of margin calls, but things seemed to be back in hand by the afternoon when a large pool of bankers pumped money back into the market in order to stabilize it. It seemed that this confidence building measure was going to work. The next day actually seemed to foretell that the trouble was over, but it wasn't.

Monday the 28th investors began dumping their stocks in hopes of holding onto at least some capital from securities that they thought were going to lose all of their value. This saw overall share prices plummet drastically and there was no way to arrest the fall. The next day, the 29th, is considered the worst day in the history of the stock market. It is known as "Black Tuesday."

Wholesale panic had ensued by that time and because no one was willing to buy all of the stocks being dumped prices collapsed completely. Rumors that bankers were selling off their own holdings further increased the panic, and it quickly swept across the country. Because there were no safety mechanisms in place at that time, panic selling continued off and on for several more years.

The markets reached their absolute low in 1932 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 41. 22. Many people who had been holding stocks in the market lost their entire life savings, the value of innumerable companies was utterly destroyed and people lost almost all faith in banks. It was truly a cataclysm in the financial markets that hasn't been duplicated since.