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Nov 15, 1867
Edward Callahan invents the stock ticker, a device that shows current market prices and represents each company on the stock market
with symbols based on Morse code.
Sept 24, 1869
Black Friday, a group of speculators lead by Jay Gould and Jim Fiske try to corner the gold market, settiing off a US financial panic
Sept 18, 1873
Brokerage firm Jay Cooke & Company, a major investor in new railroad constructioni, collapses, sparking the Panic of 1873
Nov 13, 1878
NYSC installs the first telephones on its trading floor
Nov 1882
Charles Dow and Edward Jones form Dow Jones & Company and design the first index to measure the actdivity of NYSE
May 6, 1884
Brokerage firm Grant and Ward fails. It is owned by the son of former Union general and president Ulysses Grant. The failure
plunges the ex-president into bankruptcy and in desperation for money, he will being writing his war time memoirs soon afterward.
Dec 15, 1886
NYSE trading volume reaches one million shares a day for the first time
Apr 8, 1890
Junius S. Morgan, the head of Morgan banking family dies. His son, John Pierpont Morgan, will turn the family financial empire into one of
the most powerful banking houses in the world.
May 26, 1896
Charles Dow reveals his industrial stock average in the first publication of his daily paper -- the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones creates four averages
including DJIA.
Jan 12, 1906
DJIA closes the day over 100 for the first time
Oct 21, 1907
Rumors on NY banks trigger bank run, beginning the Panic of 1907. JP Morgan devises a plan to return cash to banks, saving the crisis.
Feb 28, 1913
the Pujo Committee, appointed by Congress to investigate banking and securities industry, issues a reports that leads Congress
to create the Federal Reserve System. The Fed is designed to stablize the nation's banking structure.
Jul 31, 1914.
WWI begins in Europe, leading to sharp declines in world stock prices. NYSE and exchanges throughout the world temporarily suspend
trading in order to stop prices from dropping further
Apr 7, 1917
President Woodrow Wilson ask Congress for a formal declaration of war. US enters WWI.
Jun 8, 1917
A liberty loan rally is held on trading floor of NYSE, where former president William H. Taft encourages Americans to buy war bonds.
Nov 11, 1918
US emerges from WWI as a creditor nation and a rising global force
Oct 1923
A bull market begins. It will continue for nearly six years.
Apr 13, 1928
NYSE introduces new and improved high-speed tickers. The devices print 500 chars per minute, almost twice as fast as the earlier model.
Mar 15, 1929
Newspaper quote Treasury secretary Andrew Mellon saying there are bargains to be found in the bond market.
Wall street is in the midst of a buying frenzy. As the market rises, some begin to fear a collapse. The Fed meets, but makes no public statements.
Mar 4, 1929
President Herbert Hoover is inaugurated. Nicknames "The Great Engineer", the former geologist and mining engineer takes office amid
booming prosperity. During campaign he has promised: " We shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty
will be banished from this nation."
Mar 8, 1929
Michael J. Meehan begins one of the most successful brokerage pools in Wall Street history. Over the next ten days, he drives the value
of RCA stock up almost 50%. In today's money, his pool will make the colluding investors \$100 million.
Mar 25, 1929
A mini-crash begins as investors start to sell, revealing the market's shaky foundations. Margin calls wipe out many people, interest rates soar
to 20 percent. The New York Daily News calls it a "selling avalance"
Mar 27, 1929
Banker Charles Mitchel announces that the national city bank will provide \$25 million in credit to stop the market's slide. His move
stops the panic, and call money declines from 20 to eight percent. Senator and former treasury secretary Carter Glass calls for Mitchell
to resign from his post on Fed because of his intervention in the market.
Spring 1929
American economy shows ominous signs of trouble. Steel production is declining, construction sluggish, car sales down, and consumers
are building high debts because of easy credit. Yet stock market continues its upward momentum, heedless of real economic indicators.
May 14, 1929
NYSE opens a new bond boom, adding 6,000 feet to the trading floor.
Summer 1929
Market conditions rebound, stocks hit record levels month after month
Aug 17, 1929
Michael Meehan's brokerage firm launches a new service: an office aboard oceal liners,
including the Berengaria. This convenience allows transatlantic passengers to buy or sell
shares during the weeklong passage between the US and Europe.
Sep 3, 1929
Market reaches its peak. After a surge of optimism, the bull market reaches its peak -- DJIA closes at 381.17. A newspaper
headline trumpets, "public demand for stock appears insatiable"
Sep 5, 1929
Bearish economist Roger Babson gives a speech, saying, "Sooner or later, a crash is coming, and it may be terrific."
He has been delivering the message for two years, but for the first tie, investors listen. The market takes a severe
dip, which will be called the "Babson break". The next day, prices will stabilize, but the collapse has begun.
Mid Sep, 1929
Market fluctuates wildly up and down
Oct 28, 1929
"Black Monday". The stock market falls 22.6%. The highest one day decline in US history. The crash triggers similar declines in markets
around the world.
Oct 29, 1929
"Black Tuesday". Panic sets in as investors all try to sell their stocks at once. Over 16 million shares of stock are sold, setting a record
-- and the market records over \$14 billion in paper losses. Stock tickers cannot keep up with the heavy trading volume. At the end
of the day, market is down 33 points, more than 12.8%. Some of the nation's financial elite, including General Motor's William Durant
and the Rockfeller family show confidence by buying stocks, but their efforts fail to stem the tide
Nov 23, 1929
After weeks in freefall, the market hits its bottom and stabilizes. The New York Times reports "Regular schedule to be resumed, but
trading will be suspended last half of week. business nearly normal". The market's daily volume is at 3 million with "orderly although
irregular" prices.
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