“There came a Wednesday, October 23rd, when the market was a little shaky, weak. And whether this caused some spread of pessimism, one doesn't know. It certainly led a lot of people to think they should get out. And so, Thursday, October the 24th -- the first Black Thursday -- the market, beginning in the morning, took a terrific tumble. The market opened in an absolutely free fall and some people couldn't even get any bids for their shares and it was wild panic. And an ugly crowd gathered outside the stock exchange and it was described as making weird and threatening noises. It was, indeed, one of the worst days that had ever been seen down there."
"There was a glimmer of hope on Black Thursday...About 12:30, there was an announcement that this group of bankers would make available a very substantial sum to ease the credit stringency and support the market. And right after that, Dick Whitney made his famous walk across the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.... At 1:30 in the afternoon, at the height of the panic, he strolled across the floor and in a loud, clear voice, ordered 10,000 shares of U.S. Steel at a price considerably higher than the last bid. He then went from post to post, shouting buy orders for key stocks."
"And sure enough, this seemed to be evidence that the bankers had moved in to end the panic. And they did end it for that day. The market then stabilized and even went up."
"But Monday was not good. Apparently, people had thought about things over the weekend, over Sunday, and decided maybe they might be safer to get out. And then came the real crash, which was on Tuesday, when the market went down and down and down, without seeming limit...Morgan's bankers could no longer stem the tide. It was like trying to stop Niagara Falls. Everyone wanted to sell."
"In brokers' offices across the country, the small investors -- the tailors, the grocers, the secretaries -- stared at the moving ticker in numb silence. Hope of an easy retirement, the new home, their children's education, everything was gone."
Sound familiar? There is an eerie resemblance in this editorial quote from the November 8th 1929 edition of The World to today’s rush of the Obama administration to shore up worthless assets with future taxpayer dollars. We have yet to learn from history … yet it always repeats itself.
The photos that follow juxtapose 1929 to 2009….admittedly we are on the brink of a depression, blindly ignoring the warning signs.
Sound familiar? There is an eerie resemblance in this editorial quote from the November 8th 1929 edition of The World to today’s rush of the Obama administration to shore up worthless assets with future taxpayer dollars. We have yet to learn from history … yet it always repeats itself.
The photos that follow juxtapose 1929 to 2009….admittedly we are on the brink of a depression, blindly ignoring the warning signs.
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