It Rory French

It Freshman Composition
It MW 12:30-1:45
It 28 October, 2015

The Impact of the Stock Market

The stock market has been making a major impact in our world for a few centuries. The
history of the stock market has been a very interesting tale. There have been several rough
points in the days of the stock market. Over the last century, stock markets around the world
have been making an impact every day on peoples lives. Even though we never think about it,
prices rise and fall all the time. I will demonstrate how the history of our stock market has
impacted our society, both good and bad. To demonstrate this, I will talk about some of the big
names in the stock market both current and past and how the stock market started.
One price that affects people every day is the gasoline industry. Depending on where you
live in the United States, prices fluctuate with gas. The further east you travel from California
youll notice that prices slowly drop until you get into a major industry city like Chicago or
Detroit. Gas prices right now are closer to three dollars in California and then slowly drop as
you head towards Denver. Have you ever considered why that is? The answer is simple actually.
The supply is up and the demand is down. One question that I have been trying to answer for a
while now is why are gas prices so low in Denver when its such a populated area? Believe it
or not, the light rail station is what is keeping prices down. If you compare many cities, you will
see this. In Los Angeles prices are at ($2.94), in Las Vegas they are ($2.83), in Des Moines they

are ($2.56), in Chicago they are ($2.53), and lastly in Detroit they are ($2.29). Did you know
that the average price of gasoline in Denver is $2.15? Denver is currently 5 cents under the
national average. As you can see, the supply and demand can cause quite a few areas to differ.
The stock market plays a big role in how things are priced as far as our consumer goods
as well. A lot of our food prices are controlled from two things in this world; supply and demand
factor and the stock market. The stock market has a major role in American society. It has
caused great wealth, but also equally great poverty. The stock market hasnt always been nice to
us here in America. The big question that everyone seems to keep asking to this day is could the
stock market crash of 1929 been prevented. This subject has taken hold of my attention. The
stock market can make or break someone in a day; this is what happened in the crash of 1929.
Only the smartest people survive in this incredible world of numbers. It takes a real risk-taker to
be able to make bold moves like investors in the stock. This is a very difficult road to take to
literally get rich or die trying for some people. We all know that secrets are held in the stock
market world with murders, lies, and crimes; the truth to be unveiled now. It
Looking back to the 1300s, we can start to see the initial effect of the stock market.
Though there was no stock exchange, the idea of a stock market came to life. No one knew at
that point how big the stock market could be. In the 1300s, Venetians were the leaders in the
field and the first to start trading the securities from other governments (Beattie). The stock
market has been a balanced system since the 1500s when Belgium began its very first stock
exchange in Antwerp. It is odd to think of a stock exchange that dealt exclusively in promissory
notes and bonds, but in the 1500s, there were no real stocks (Beattie). Stocks became more
vital to people once they realized what they could be doing with their stuff, thus began the
trading business. Not a lot of people use it today in everyday life. Personally, Ive used this

mechanism about 3 times in my entire life. In the stock exchange, this is daily life for people. In
the big market world, companies trade, sell, and buy stocks on the daily. Its the gamble people
are willing to take to make a lot of money. In the next century became the emergence of East
India in the trading world. Many countries gave charters with companies in East India in the
1600s. In the 1600s, people were investing so much in East India that it seemed like the only
ones that didnt have a stake in them were the people that were living there. Travelling by ship
was a very dangerous and risky way of travel. Many worries came with travel on ship; bad
weather and pirates who were looking to steal and collect goods from the traders were constant.
East India was in control of these voyages and stocks at this point in time. Everyone wanted a
piece of what they were getting from other countries. Shareholders would sell their paper, since
everything was written on paper. They would make a profit of selling these opportunities of
goods coming into their country. The only problem was that there was no stock exchange in
existence, so investors would have to seek out there buyers on their own. This could be a
difficult process as investors. Seeking out buyers back then wasnt the easiest thing to do. This
form of shareholding was more difficult than what we do today.
Electronics took the stock exchange to a whole new level. Shareholders dont have to
seek out buyers anymore; they just sit back and let people buy their way in to a company. People
from all over the world can invest in one thing each day without leaving their couch. The history
of how the stock exchange broke loose is an interesting tale. Once it lead to the build of one
stock market, countries all around the world followed with the rise of their own stock market.
Before a stock market was even born, people were fighting over stocks and trying to get rich
by risking their lives in dangerous voyages across the Atlantic to make a little money. We as a
nation need our goods as well though. Most of the food we eat is traded within ourselves or from

across the ocean. When you see that Made in China sticker on your kids toy, thats because we
traded something to allow your child to have a bit of fun with that one object.
While it is important to understand how the stock market was originally came to be; nit is
equally important to understand how the New York stock market rose to what it is today. The
New York Stock exchange started just after all of the East India stories happened. In the next
century, the idea of the United States getting a stock exchange was nearing by the day. It was
bound to happen anyways, but a group of men took it to themselves to make this idea become a
reality. Twenty-four New York City stockbrokers and merchants took it to themselves on May
17, 1792, outside at 68 Wall Street under a Buttonwood tree to sign The Buttonwood Agreement.
Among those 24 stockbrokers and merchants were men like Hugh Smith, Samuel Beebe,
Benjamin Winthrop, and Leonard Bleecker (Terrell). These are just a few of men that are
considered the creators of the New York Stock Exchange. It wasnt until 1817 when the 24
original stockbrokers adopted the name New York Stock Exchange and moved to permanent
residence 40 Wall Street. In 1835 the Great Fire destroyed over 700 buildings in lower
Manhattan and the NYS&EB was forced to find temporary accommodations (Lesson Nine).
Expansion was necessary at this point in the company. This fire breakout allowed them to think
about their business and they decided that it was time to start expanding to make more money.
Trading expanded from a few hundred shares a day in 1830 to a record one million shares a day
in 1886 (Lesson Nine). In the 1860s, the stock exchange took a bit of a hit when they
suspended trading to seceding states and then closed their doors more than a week after the
assassination of President Lincoln. Post war, the New York Stock Exchange was ready for
expansion again. The only way to get a seat on the exchange was to buy a spot from a retiring
member. In 1903, the stock exchange moved to the location it remains today, 18 Broad Street.

In November 1907, the market had declined by 40 percent. The stock market had taken a
hit that would feel like just a pinch compared to the Stock Market crash of 1929 and ultimately
lead to the Depression. The Exchange closed its doors again August 1, 1914 when fears of war
in Europe threatened another bout of panic selling, reopening December 12, 1914 (Lesson
Nine). In spite of fear, people reacted to the idea of a major war breakout in Europe. World
War 1 was one of the big reasons why the United States went into a depression and how the
Stock Market Crashed. In 1921, the trading volume on the NYSE exploded 171 million shares in
1921 to billions in 1929. Unfortunately, in October 1929, the stock market crashed. The market
lost 12.8% in just a few days. In just a few more years by 1932, the DOW had fallen from 386 to
61: a loss of 89%. The hit that the nation took from the Stock Market crash of 1929 was
unbelievable. As we all know, slowly but surely, they worked their way up again to be a leading
industry in making money again though. Over the next century, they got back to where they
were before the crash and have been an important industry in our nation ever since. On
September 6, 2000, the Stock Market hit an all time high DOW of 11,583.83. If we were to take
another crash like we did back in 1929, DOW wouldve dropped to 1,274.22, an 89% drop as it
did in 1929. We took a 340 point drop in 1929, just imagine what a 10,000 point drop would do
to this business. The Stock Exchange was able to withstand World War II and established higher
powers within themselves, electing a full time Board of Governors and President. Seats in the
exchange are bought and sold to members and that is the only way to get in to the board of the
stock exchange. One day, in 1967, the stock exchange took a big step when the first woman,
Muriel Siebert, became a member of the stock exchange and when Joseph L. Searles III became
the first African American member in 1970. In 1953, a set number of members were set to 1,366
members. To this day, that number is remained unchanged. The stock market took a hit to help

this country survive. It may have saved this country or may have helped hit us even harder. The
stock exchange has helped many people make a lot of money though. Its time to realize how the
stock market crash hurt us in 1929.
The stock market has been a vital tool for the industry world in the United States for
centuries now. The causes and long lasting affects made America take a giant step back from
being leading industry companies in the world. The stock market crash did a whole lot more
than just drop a bunch of numbers. It took 25 years for the DOW to regain where it was on
September 3, 1929. Just imagine instead of that crash, where DOW would have been in 1957
instead of being back right where we had ended. Would our DOW market be even higher today
as well? On October 24, 1929, the stock market dropped an incredible 11% halfway throughout
the day. Though the day ended in just a 2% drop, it left stockbrokers feverish with their
investments. In an act of nervousness, stockbrokers bought many stocks on October 28, 1929 to
avoid another fall. Ironically, their new investments were so overwhelming that the DOW
dropped another 13% the very next day. Some say that it was eminent that it was going to drop
again anyways. With the new stocks recently bought the day before, it only sped up the process
and hit America faster and harder all at once rather than over time. It wasnt something that
couldve been prevented but hindered a bit. In a scared act, the very next day, stockholders
rushed out the door when DOW dropped another 11% that day. Over 16 million shares were sold
that day from scared investors. People were losing their money, job, and all things good in life.
Over the four days of the stock market crash, the Dow dropped 25%, losing $30 billion in
market value. That's worth $396 billion today (Amadeo). People were running scared of the
sight of losing everything. What made Black Thursday such a bad day in the history of the New
York Stock Exchange was the loss of people's faith in Wall Street (Amadeo). Humanity lost

faith in themselves the day the stock market crashed. What happened after was reality for the
nation. What people didnt realize was that we worked without the stock exchange before; we
very well could have done it again. We were a striving nation and when the stock market
crashed, it was like America lost hope within ourselves. We as a nation blame the crash for the
lasting effects of this nation. I think its time that we start taking responsibility for the actions we
took when everything started going south.
The question still remains unclear though, could the stock market crash of 1929 been
prevented by America? In this essay, you have learned how harmful the crash to America and
the story behind how the New York Stock Exchange all started. Many experts in the field of the
stock market exchange have said that these harmful affects couldnt have been avoided. I agree.
Something like that couldnt have been stopped by just one person. It may have taken a team
effort in order to help prevent the crash of 1929. The entire nation wouldve have had to pull
together years earlier, possibly even decades, to help resist what happened. Even if the entire
nation had gotten an alert the day before, theres still nothing that couldve been done. World
War 1 had put a big dent in the stock market before the market crashed. The United States had
no idea what they were getting themselves into when they went to war. The Great Depression
and the stock market crash while we had soldiers half way across the world when all of this
started as well. Just imagine what those soldiers were thinking when they heard the news. They
were heart-broken and there was nothing they could do to prevent it, nor could they do anything
to fix it as well. It wasnt just the people in Wall Street that were affected. The whole nation took
a big hit with their wallets. Money was worth less than ever before and people lost most of what
they had either saved up or invested from the crash. This nation went through its hardest thus
far. Hopefully we will never have to go through that ever again.

The United States has had some emotional times in this nations life. We have slowly but
surely been in the rebuilding process ever since 1929 hit. You have learned much from this now.
This was just the tip of the iceberg from the stock market crash of 1929. Many people lost their
lives, struggled for years off of almost nothing, and lost almost everything important in their
lives in some situations. Stock brokers went from having everything they wanted in life to just
about having nothing. They were living with my wages at their age. Now, my salary was
considered living well back in the day. I make in the bottom half of the economy, probably close
to the bottom quarter. Money is worth a lot more than it was a century ago. One hundred years
can change a company drastically. One stock market crash, quite a few wars, and many
presidents later, we have still managed to be standing strong and ahead of many other countries
in this world. One thing that we dont know for sure is if we couldve prevented all of these wars
and the stock market crash of 1929, but I do know that no matter what this country goes through
from here on out, we will persevere and come out stronger than ever like we always have. This
nation has fought for years against crashing and burning. In a long battle between not only
others, but within us as well, this nation stands higher and stronger than it ever has today. The
leaders of this country have done an amazing job at keeping this nation alive and well again. We
can wake up every day and not have to worry about another nation attacking us in our homeland,
or whether or not we still have all our money that we had yesterday as well. Who knows where
we would be today if some things had not happened for our country. Would our nation be even
better if the stock market crash or both world wars never happened? How much worse would
our country have gotten if Franklin D. Roosevelt never came up with The New Deal? Truth be
told, that is still a mystery waiting to be solved. You would be surprised how many different
scenarios could have happened if certain things didnt happen in our past. None of that truly

matters now though to be honest. The only thing that matters now is that we as a nation move
forward and focus on becoming better as a nation, a state, county, and most importantly, as
individuals. It
Beattie, Andrew. Investopedia. The Birth of Stock Exchanges. 2015. Web. 21 October, 2015.
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/07/stock-exchange-history.asp
Terrell, Ellen. The Library of Congress. Business Reference Services. History of the New York
Stock Exchange. May 2004. Updated October 2012. Web. 21 October, 2015.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/stock_market.html
Lesson Nine. Web. 21 October, 2015.
http://business.illinois.edu/broker/course/lesson09/x1c.htm
Amadeo, Kimberly. About News. US Economy. 2015. Web. 22 October, 2015.
http://useconomy.about.com/od/glossary/g/Stock-Market-Crash-of-1929.htm