• Home|
• 1859-1900|
• 1901-1930|
• 1931-1960|
• 1961-1990|
• 1991-2007|
• Using the archive

Heavy selling, stocks close weak

New York, Saturday: Stocks opened weak. The market was subject to heavy selling . . . The omission of a dividend on United Cigar preferred shares and a stock exchange announcement that the ratio of member borrowings to total market value of listed stock rose during September to the highest level for years were unsettling factors . . .

From Monday, October 21, 1929.

DULL CONDITIONS
London: Following the news of the sharp break in Wall Street on Saturday, dull conditions prevailed at the start of the oil share market yesterday. Royal Dutch touched their lowest point when New York came on in the afternoon . . . [ another report suggested that conditions were "steadier" on the London stock exchange than they had been the previous day].

From Tuesday, October 22, 1929

WHOLESALE SELLING

New York, Wednesday. Amid excitement, the Stock Market plunged into another sharp decline this afternoon. The ticker [ showing the prices] fell half-an-hour behind and traders were frightened into wholesale selling when word reached their offices that prices on the floor were several dollars below the quotations then appearing on the ticker tape.

From Wed, October 23, 1929

THROGMORTON STREET SCENES
London: Scenes of unprecedented excitement took place last night in Throgmorton Street, London. Nervousness with regard to the condition of the American market caused hundreds of brokers to remain in Shorter's House . . . where dealings in Anglo-American securities are transacted, to watch events in the interests of their clients. Soon it became apparent that Wall Street was in the throes of another crash, the prices over the wires from New York recording tremendous falls.

From Thursday October 24, 1929

WALL STREET BEDLAM
New York, Friday [just after the markets had closed on what was to be known as Black Thursday] By lunchtime the floor of the Exchange was bedlam and the roar of the voices of the excited brokers, struggling to execute orders rose into one great volume of sound which was audible to the crowds which filled the streets which surrounded the building.

From Saturday, October 26, 1929

UNSETTLED CLOSE
New York, Tuesday The closing gong at 3 o'clock ended a day of greater pandemonium, apprehension and general uncertainty than any broker has ever experienced. Mountains of torn paper littered the floor of the stock market as harassed brokers, exhausted by five hours of scrimmage left to return to their offices, there to cope with the troubles of their clients and the demands of the bankers for additional margins to cover their loans. Wall Street will again be open all night and in many offices the clerks will not get to bed at all . . . Thousands of speculators have become bankrupt.

From Wed, October 30, 1929