By October 24th, 1929, the Dow was down 20%. The market was up slightly on
Friday, October 25th.This gave of hope to investors and traders: |
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Sanity ruled on the
Stock Exchange Friday in place of the hysteria of Thursday...
In its place was a decidedly improved
sentiment; the atmosphere had been cleared and a period of normalcy again reigned...
Sentiment was extremely cautious. While
most observers believed the worst of the sharp break was over , they did not look for any
immediate recovery...It is the general view that nothing more than backing and filling
movements can be expected. Then if conditions are favorable, the groundwork can be laid
for a new advance later on.
- Wall Street Journal, 10/26/29 |
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 The normalcy did not last long. The stock market broke severely
on Monday, 10/28. The Dow closed the day down 13.5%. The headline in the Wall Street
Journal seemed to express some hope: |
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MARKET ORDERLY IN RECORD
DROP
Continued Operation of Banker's Pool
Prevents Repetition of Thursday's Hysteria.
- Wall Street Journal, 10/29/29 |
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| On Tuesday, 10/29 the market feel another 11.5%. Once
again, the Journal tried its best to be encouraging: |
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STOCKS STEADY AFTER
DECLINE
Bankers State Support Continues- Spokesman
Expresses View Hysteria is Passing
- Wall Street Journal, 10/30/29 |
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| By the market close on 10/29, the Dow had lost 39.6%
since its market high on September 3rd. But unlike 1987, the market bounce that followed
did not last long. By early November the Dow had broken down to new lows. The ultimate low
did not come until July, 1932. By that time the market had lost almost 89%
of its value. |
 CHARTS of the '29 Crash
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