15 Facts To Learn From The 1929 Stock Market Crash

First published 13th April 2020 Robin James

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The 1929 Stock Market Crash has shaped generations, but with it fading fast from memory, how much do you really know about it? Take a look at these interesting facts about the 1929 Stock Market Crash to help you steer clear of any future loss…

The 4-day collapse began on October 24th 1929 and would lead to a worldwide depression lasting 10 years.
The Dow Jones lost an incredible 25% which amounted to $30 billion at the time.
U.S. Economic growth was decimated and the size of the economy wouldn’t recover for another 25 years.

Tales of bankers leaping to their death when they saw the results of the markets are now regarded as a myth.
The ticker tapes were so far behind that analysts had beds brought into their offices and worked around the clock in shifts to try and catch up.
In today’s money the losses amount to more than $400 billion in just 4 days.

During the first day of the crash — Black Thursday — the number of trades tripled compared to what it would have typically been.
Since 1922 the stock market had gone up by at least 20% a year, every year.
Buying on margin allowed investors to put down as little as 10% and buy shares. This led to extreme leverage when the market moved in the other direction.

Banks were using depositor’s savings to buy stocks without their knowledge.
With this underhand behaviour combined with the fact that banks only had to honour 10% of all money deposited with them, people were wiped out overnight and left destitute.
The key to the bubble bursting was a loss of confidence that it could continue to grow at the same rate.
On Black Tuesday the market panicked to such an extent that trades quadrupled in an attempt to save the stock prices from falling further.
The Great Depression hit America hardest and is thought to have stemmed from isolationist principles that saw the U.S. reduce foreign trade after the crash.
The stock market would go on to lose 90% of its pre-crash value by 1933 causing the average family income to drop by over 40%.