On This Day
Volume Two
by
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October 29 In 1929, Black Tuesday descended upon the New York Stock Exchange. Prices collapsed amid panic selling and thousands of investors were wiped out as America's Great Depression began. Stock prices virtually collapsed yesterday, swept downward with gigantic losses in the most disastrous trading day in the stock market's history. Billions of dollars in open market values were wiped out as prices crumbled under the pressure of liquidation of securities which had to be sold at any price. There was an impressive rally just at the close, which brought many leading stocks back from 4 to 14 points from their lowest points of the day. From every point of view, in the extent of losses sustained, in total turnover, in the number of speculators wiped out, the day was the most disastrous in Wall Street's history. Hysteria swept the country and stocks went overboard for just what they would bring at forced sale. Efforts to estimate yesterday's market losses in dollars are futile because of the vast number of securities quoted over the counter and on out-of-town exchanges on which no calculations are possible. However, it was estimated that 880 issues, on the New York Stock Exchange, lost between $8,000,000,000 and $9,000,000,000 yesterday. Added to that loss is to be reckoned the depreciation on issues on the Curb Market, in the over the counter market and on other exchanges. Comments The Wall Street Crash of 1929 consists of Black Thursday (October 24, 1929), the initial crash and Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929), the crash that caused general panic five days later. The crash marked the beginning of widespread and long-lasting consequences for the United States. It was either the start of the Great Depression or perhaps an early symptom of the Great Depression, rather than a cause. At the time of the crash, New York City had grown to be a major financial capital and metropolis. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was the largest stock market in the world. The roaring twenties was a time of prosperity and excess in the city. After an amazing five-year run that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) increase in value fivefold, prices peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929. The market then fell sharply for a month, losing 17% of its value on the initial leg down. Prices then recovered more than half of the losses over the next week, only to turn back down immediately afterwards. The decline then accelerated into the so-called "Black Thursday", October 24, 1929. A record number of 12.9 million shares were traded on that day. Over the weekend, the events were dramatized by the newspapers across the United States. On Monday, October 28, more investors decided to get out of the market, and the slide continued with a record 13% loss in the Dow for the day. The next day, "Black Tuesday", October 29, 1929, 16.4 million shares were traded, a number that broke the record set five days earlier and that was not exceeded until 1969. The DJIA lost another 12% that day. The ticker did not stop running until about 7:45 that evening. The market lost $14 billion in value that day, bringing the loss for the week to $30 billion, ten times more than the annual budget of the federal government. An interim bottom occurred on November 13, with the Dow closing at 198.6 that day. The market recovered for several months from that point, with the Dow reaching a secondary peak at 294.0 in April 1930. The market embarked on a steady slide in April 1931 that did not end until 1932 when the Dow closed at 41.22 on July 8, concluding a shattering 89% decline from the peak. This was the lowest the stock market had been since the 19th century. As late as April 1942, U.S. stock prices were still 75% below their 1929 peak and would not return to that level until November 1954—almost a quarter of a century later. Important financial reforms and trading regulations were instituted to protect against a repeat of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
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About the Book
This book chronicles the most important events that have shaped our world in the context of what the media reported on that day, as compared to the viewpoint to-day.
This work is in two volumes, of which this book is the second volume. The subject matter is handled by listing the specific day when the event occurred, going through the calendar a day at a time throughout the year.
What is clearly evident is an extraordinary change in values and the concept of what is considered to be right and what is wrong over the last half century. Has the pendulum swung too far and will it swing back or are we, in the Western World, in continual decline both morally and economically?The USA has been the land of opportunity, but home grown Liberals are now increasingly sapping the strength of the USA. This book chronicles the destruction of our traditional Christian values and the moral decline of the USA. It gives an insight into the developing world and the failure of the USA to sustain world leadership. The USA seems to be incapable or willing to continue to wear the mantle that England wore for centuries until Socialist Britain handed the mantle over in the 1940s.
When I came to the USA in 1970, the man in the street on seeing a Cadillac, vowed to be in one in another ten years. To-day, increasingly, the desire is to get the 'privileged' out of their Mercedes and BMWs.
About the Author
David J. Phillips David Phillips graduated from Oxford University, on a full academic scholarship having grown up in the industrial Midlands of England where he was born. He has lived in the U.S.A. for the last 38 years and is a United States citizen, having emigrated with his wife. He has three sons and nine grandchildren. Two of his sons are investment bankers and one is a pediatric heart surgeon. Mr. Phillips has over 40 years of multi-national business development and turnaround management experience as a senior chemical industry executive. He has been CEO of six companies. In four years at Alcolac (owned by Rio Tinto Zinc Plc), he built sales from $45 million/year to $150 million/year and quadrupled operating profit. In two years, he returned Sherex (owned by Schering AG) to substantial profitability after four years of increasing losses. He has been founding CEO of two biotechnology and photochemical start-ups through 7 rounds of financing. One of these, Biocode was one of the founding companies of Authentix, recently acquired by Carlyle for $100 million. As President of the Houdry Process Corporation, he revamped obsolete petrochemical technology to pioneer the worldwide production and use of octane enhancers to replace lead in gasoline. Investments exceeded $10 billion, of which $3 billion have been in Saudi Arabia. When President Nixon normalized relations with China, Houdry under Phillips, already had Americans working in China. Subsequently he and his colleagues introduced Chinese in Mao suits to modern petrochemical and refining technology. During his career, David Phillips has created many new businesses and many thousands of new jobs. He has never closed a plant always opting to find new opportunities for them. He is currently bringing a previously bankrupt plant in New York State back to vibrant life with 40 new jobs so far in the past year. He and his wife of 43 years travel extensively throughout the world and there are few countries in which he has not conducted business. David Phillips came to the US to escape the tyranny of left thinking in 1970. He has lived in several different parts of the USA and most recently in Boston for over 10 years.