stock market essays

stock market essays Prior to the stock market crash in 1929 and Black Thursday, a day which meant financial ruin for much of America, the U.S Economy was experiencing a great boom. The stock market, a growing trend in the life of Americans, allowed almost every man to experience the American dream. Investing was something that almost every person could do, the thought of putting in a few hundred dollars one day and waking up the next morning with twice as much money as you had put in amazed people. Once they started they couldnt get enough. At the beginning of the 1920s approximately 1.5 million citizens participated in the stock market but at the close of 1928 survey s said the about 17million had taken interest in the stock market. Because of their success and that of so many others, people could not possibly see how the stock market could fail, they watched its growth day by day and saw themselves grow more and more wealthy. This is not to say however that no one paid attention to the increasing amo unt of warning signs. Many noted that the pace at which prices were rising could be potentially dangerous, however when they tried to warn the public, people thought they were crazy for thinking this amazing time of wealth and prosperity could come to a devastating end. In the 1920s playing the stock market became a sort of national sport, people who had never invested in anything or prior to the 20s had never even heard of the stock market were buying and selling in hopes of getting rich quick. Brokerage firms became a common thing with advertisements and competition for lowest interest and down payments of as low as 10%. This further added to the madness of the times. What the average person didnt understand however, was that the stock prices did not reflect the real values of the shares or how much the companies were worth. Because of this, people spent their entire savings on stocks and when the bear market began...