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"Shortly after the New York Stock Exchange opens on the Morning of October 24, stock prices begin to drop dramatically and the volume of trading breaks all previous records. By 11:30 a.m. panic selling prevails as more and larger blocks of stock are thrown on the market.
The ticket tape that reports prices outside the Exchange falls increasingly behind. In the offices of J.P. Morgan and Company, where a group of top investment bankers are meeting, cooler heads prevail. In an effort to reverse the tide, Richard Whitney, vice president of the Exchange, is sent to the floor to purchase millions of dollars worth of key stocks. This action is successful and prices begin to steady.
Activity on the Exchange is relatively stable the next day, but on October 28, prices again tumble. This time the bankers do not try to halt the decline. On October 29 panic selling increases. The ticker tape is two and one-half hours behind and by the end of the day a record 16,410,030 shares have been sold, with a total loss in value of 880 issues estimated by The New York Times to exceed $8,000,000,000. Thousands of investors see their fortunes wiped out.
Economists, bankers, and politicians grope to find an explanation. Most believe that the economy is still sound and the market will soon recover. Some say it is merely a momentary psychological aberration. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon insists that the stock market debacle is an illness that will soon run its course and cure itself. Although there are signs that the problem goes much deeper, most prefer to ignore them. Examination of statistics reveals an increasing unemployment rate during the year prior to the crash and a great decrease in construction activity. Still most industry continues to prosper throughout the year and the automobile companies produce a record 3,000,000 cars."
"The Panic and Depression of 1929"
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