If you don't know what to write: Write the question & answer!
1. In the 1920s, what were many people buying a lot of?
2. What was it called when people took out loans to buy stocks?
3. What is speculation?
4. What happened on October 29th, 1929?
During the 1920s, the stock market was doing great. Business was booming and people were buying shares of those businesses called “stocks” hoping to make fortunes as they watched stock prices go higher and higher. Many made millions on the stock market, and more people invested their money every day. Some even took out loans to buy stocks—called buying on margin. People did not worry about paying back their loans because they believed the market would keep going up. This type of investment is called speculation.
But on October 24, 1929 stock prices began, I mean to fall and people scrambled to sell their shares of stock to avoid losing money. That day, America’s leading bankers met to try to buy up stocks above market price. Their purchases led to a small recovery in the market. But by October 29, the bankers announced that they could not prop up the market any more. Stock prices plummeted to all time lows. The crash had happened.