Black Thursday - October 24, 1929

1929 - The stock market. 

What made the stock market crash?

Black Thursday - October 24, 1929

On the morning of Thursday, October 24, 1929, stock prices Dropped . Huge numbers of people were trading their stocks. People throughout the country watched the ticker as the numbers it spit out spelled their fate.

During the 1920s a long boom took stock prices to heights points never before seen. From 1920 to 1929 stocks more than multiplied in value. Many investors became persuaded that stocks were a sure thing and lent heavily to capitalize more money in the market. 

But in 1929, the bubble rupture and stocks started to melt down. In 1932 and 1933, they hit lowest, down about 80% from their highs in the late 1920s. This had sharp effects on the economy. Demand for goods weakened because people felt poor because of their losses in the stock market. New assets could not be sponsored through the sale of stock, because no one would buy.

But possibly the most significant effect was disorder in the banking system as banks tried to gather on loans. Sadder, many banks had themselves participated depositors' in the stock market. When word blowout that banks' moneys enclosed vast uncollectable loans and almost valueless stock certificates, people ran to withdraw their money.

By 1933, the banking system had mainly stopped to function. Investors had seen $140 billion vanish when their banks failed