ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΓΡΑΦΟΣ: Οικονομική κρίση του 1929 "Πρωτοσέλιδο της Washington Post. Πέμπτη 24 Οκτωβρίου 1929" ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΣΚΕΨΗ

Παρασκευή 3 Ιανουαρίου 2025

Οικονομική κρίση του 1929 "Πρωτοσέλιδο της Washington Post. Πέμπτη 24 Οκτωβρίου 1929" ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΣΚΕΨΗ

Οικονομική κρίση του 1929

Πρωτοσέλιδο της Washington Post

Πέμπτη 24 Οκτωβρίου 1929

ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗ ΣΚΕΨΗ

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Huge Selling Wave

Creates Near-Panic

As Stocks Collapse

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Wall street was thrown into the nearest approximation of a stock market panic experience in years during the last hour on the New York Stock Exchange today.

A new and wholly unexpected avalanche of selling swept over the market, carrying scores of stocks down from $10 to $96 a share, and wiping out more than $3.000.000.000 in paper values in the brief interval of about an hour, an average of about $50.000.000 a minute.

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Stock price averages and indices indicated that never before in modern financial history had quoted values disappeared so swiftly. Bankers pointed out, however, that in view of the amazing and unprecedented rise in stock prices in the past year and a half, this break could by no means be regarded as reducing prices to disastrously low levels.

The thoroughly demoralizing aspect of the collapse was the swiftness.

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Opening in Dull

The market opened rather dull, and drifted along with several important stocks recording temporary gains, until mid-afternoon, when a sharp “bear” drive was launched against the Automotive equipment and radio stocks, several of which were sent down $10 or more to new low levels for the year.

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Traders and investors alike were in a highly nervous state of mind, owing to the severe decline in prices during the past fortnight, and as soon as the market showed signs of going into a further slump, they rushed to get rid of their stocks for what they would bring.

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Panic Seizes Floor

There were scenes of wild disorder on the trading floor during the last hour of trading. The market was flooded with selling orders and for a time suffered from a panicky lack of buying orders. Members screeched their offers for several minutes at a time without finding takers.

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Wall street had generally come to the conclusion that the flood of liquidation on Saturday and Monday had rather thoroughly cleaned the weak holdings of stock, and that rather more normal trading conditions might be expected for some time. There was nothing in the day’s news to account for the further severe break in prices, and traders were inclined to interpret it to the frayed nerves of both speculators and investors, who have watched their stocks declined with sickening swiftness for nearly a fortnight.

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Only yesterday Charles E. Mitchell, chairman of the National City Bank and a director of the New York Federal Reserve Band, stated that he believed the reaction through Monday had been healthy and that the market had probably become oversold. Mitchell declined to offer any further comment after the close of today’s market.

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The day’s industrial news included several favorable earnings statements and dividend declarations, reports that steel production had been accelerated a little in the past week, and statistics showing a moderate increase in building contracts let during the first half of the month.

Less favorable developments were reports that total freight car loadings for the week ended October 12 were slightly below those of the previous week, and substantially below those of the like week a year ago.

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Credit Situation Favorable

Credit conditions were distinctly favorable in contrast to recent situations. Call money, or demand loans on security collateral, dropped to 5 per cent, the minimum figure for more than a year, and rates for banker’s acceptances, a form of credit used to finance the storage of transport of goods, were shaded from ½ to ¼ of 1 per cent during the past two days.