My German Empire - Chapter 43:

The first half of October was spent in suspicion, worry, and a wait-and-see attitude. People didn’t care about the current stock price drop because “organized support” was almost talked about by everyone. Even President Hoover has claimed that the US economy is fundamentally sound, but an atmosphere of vigilance has enveloped the entire Wall Street.

October 24, 1929, New York Stock Exchange.

In later generations, you only need to download the trading software of securities companies to be able to conduct transactions via mobile phones anytime, anywhere, which is extremely convenient. But now is an era when home landlines are not even popular. If you want to buy or sell securities, you can only go to the exchange.

Therefore, the exchange is lively every day except Saturday and Sunday, and today is no exception.

Before the market opened, the exchange was already full of people. Because Monday’s trading volume reached 6,091,870 shares, it became the third largest daily trading volume in history. Everyone was very excited to discuss how much their stocks would rise today, but they were horrified to find that something was wrong! !

More than just a bit, the stocks that were booming yesterday suddenly began to fall sharply without warning! !

“Damn it, throw out the stock!” Everyone was shouting, rushing to the counter, trying to sell their own stock.

No one considered that this would further increase the decline in stock price. Everyone just wants to keep their share of money. After all, many people here have invested their life savings in the stock market!

Soon, the quotation machine malfunctioned due to the plunge. Some people sold stocks because of uncertain concerns, and some were forced to clear their positions because they were unable to cope with the margin call. At 11:30 in the morning, the place became a total mess. People who claim to be smart are losing reason and becoming crazy.

The NYSE has stood up for 112 years, during which there have been several crises, but they have all recovered quickly. There has never been a crisis of such a large scale before. A large number of people who wanted to buy bottoms also began to rebuild positions in the last few days of October.

In the weekend after Black Thursday, the bankers reacted quickly and joined hands to protect the market. The panic in the market seemed to have subsided and the market rebounded. Over the weekend, President Hoover made another speech: The basic business conditions of the country, whether it is commodity production or sales, are on a healthy and prosperous basis. Other political and business figures also expressed the same opinion, so people expected Monday’s buying to regain lost ground.

But on Monday, the disaster really started, and once it started, it was difficult to stop it easily.

On the 28th, the market fell 49 points, with a turnover of 9.25 million shares. The bankers met again. Of course, the market was still healthy to them.

On the 29th, the darkest day since the advent of the New York Stock Exchange, the trading volume reached 16.41 million shares, the average industrial stock index fell 43 points, and investment trust stocks suffered heavy losses due to the anti-leverage effect. The stock price has shrunk by almost half, some even above 2/3. The bankers held two meetings on this day and the conclusion was monotonous, but it was later discovered that some bankers also started to sell.

“Organized support” was no longer believed. Thousands of Americans watched their life savings vanish in a few days. This was the darkest day in the history of American securities. It was the most influential and most harmful economic event in the history of the United States. The impact affected all Western countries and the entire world.

On the 30th, the stock market experienced a technical rebound, so even Rockefeller also expressed confidence in the stock market, Hoover also spoke. So far, his role has only been tirelessly repeating the argument about the health of the stock market. In addition, there were senior executives from the Ministry of Commerce, senior executives from Goldman Sachs and other respectable and convincing people who work hard for the country’s happiness.

On the 31st, the stock market opened for 3 hours and rose slightly. Since then, the market has been closed until next Monday, and optimism began to appear.

On November 3, the stock market fell by 22 points, with a trading volume of 6 million shares. On the 5th, it fell by 37 points and 6 million shares. Afterwards, it rebounded slightly and fell by 50 points again on November 13th. During this period, the real economy was also rapidly deteriorating. Trading volume plummeted, wheat prices plummeted, and leveraged trading and margin trading of investment trust companies constituted the perfect device for stock market suicides. The anti-leverage effect quickly pulled down the stock price, and the margin system forced the liquidation of stocks. These stocks have driven the overall stock price to fall, and the cycle goes back and forth. During that time it was said that the receptionists at any hotel reception in New York would ask the guests who came to stay in the hotel if they wanted to stay or jump off the building, because 11 well-known speculators have committed suicide and the body of a commission dealer was salvaged from the Hudson River. In his pocket, they found 9.4 dollars in change and several deposit reminders.

In mid-November, the stock market hit the bottom and closed at 224 points. On September 3, it was still 452 points. President Hoover, who believed that the storm had passed, appeared and announced a policy of stimulating the economy and implementing tax cuts. Unfortunately, the intensity was not great. In addition, the White House also held a meeting attended by people from all walks of life, but it was mainly about exchanging ideas, expressing attitude, enhancing confidence and letting go. Hoover could have taken more effective measures, but he was satisfied to become the worst president of the 20th century. The New York Stock Exchange also came to join in the fun and announced an investigation into the short sale, but to no avail.

The whole country, the whole capitalist world, was crying!

Irvin Schacht was sent to the United States a year ago. After several successful operations, he returned to Germany with a full load.

Wilhelm’s 500 million campaign funds pieced together in his hands increased by 3.2 times! !