In Washington, Professor Fisher is more reserved. In front of several bankers, he declares:“There is no inflation on safe values, for most of them, at least. However, everywhere market support is announced for the next day.
Thursday the 24th — “Black Thursday” — sounds the death knell for American prosperity. Panic reigns on Wall Street. 12,894,650 shares change hands during the day!
It is not known who put such a mass of shares on sale during the first hours of opening; we do not know if it is an accidental accumulation of small orders or the intervention of large speculators. In any case, prices are collapsing. At 11 a.m., what had been a market is nothing but confusion and disorder. Panic is spreading across the country. Everywhere people crowd in front of the tickers and in the branches of brokers' offices to follow the sinking. They indicate a vertiginous collapse. Uncertainty seizes people who only think about selling. Yes, but of “their” shares, most of them only own 20 or 30%, and prices have already fallen before the sell order was written. Indications from tickers lag behind reality and the public is dumping their stocks at any cost.
Outside in Broad Street, angry rumors are heard. The crowd gathered in front of the Stock Exchange; the police take position to protect the place. We see a worker who comes to carry out maintenance work on the roof of one of the tall buildings. The crowd, convinced that he is a desperate man, waits for him to rush into the void... At 12:30 p.m., the public gallery, on Wall Street, is closed.