The Long History of the Stock Market
The stock market has a rich and colorful history dating back more than 200 years. These days, the stock market is one of the biggest and most influential parts of the global financial system
Each and every single year there are billions traded on the stock market and each dollar that is traded plays an important role in the economy; not just the US economy or any economy in particular, but the whole world’s economy.
How Stock Market Started ?
The stock market was originally founded by the government with the issuance of war bonds. In an attempt to further fund the war, these bonds were sold to the general population with a guarantee of repayment.
It was at this same time all over the industrialized world that the major banks too were getting the same exact idea in their heads that they can sell a portion of their ownership to investors in exchange for profits
1792: When 24 Merchants Changed Everything
It all started in 1792 when a bunch of 24 merchants met up on Wall Street for the first time. Each of these merchants had their own portfolio of stocks, securities and bonds that they wanted to trade with each other.
The agreed to meet there on Wall Street every day from that day forward to trade their investments and within time the number of merchants who came to this meeting grew and grew.
Today there are billions of investors meeting on Wall Street on a daily basis through internet trading and through various brokerage firms. The whole thing stared with only 24 merchants.
The 1800s: Business Boomed, So Did Wall Street
By the 1800’s the stock exchange had grown into a powerful industry as the industrial revolution started kicking in and many new business were opening up at an accelerated rate.
These businesses in order to fund themselves split their companies into shares and took part of those shares to Wall Street so that investors could buy them.
This continued on well into the 1900’s where there was literally millions of dollars being traded on the exchange. Prior to1921, the entire stock exchange was still held outside on Wall Street until it was moved indoors for the first time in 1921. Since then it has been in the same spot.
Bidding Wars and the Birth of the Secondary Market
Then people started to realize that some company’s stocks had higher demands then others and that these speculators wanted the shares so bad they were willing to bid on them just to buy them.
The Crash of 1929: When It All Fell Apart
It was at this time that the stock exchanges secondary market was born and this would continue on until 1929.
It was on Black Tuesday that there was an unprecedented 16.4 million shares sold. So much in fact that the ticker tape was not able to keep up and fell more than 2 hours behind before it finally broke.
With all that trading, there was more than $100 billion dollars wrapped up in the stock market. This was a lot of money in those times and when the stock market crashed, most of that money vanished along with it, leading to the Great Depression.
Bouncing Back: Lessons and Rebuilding
Since those times the secondary market has made a full recovery and there have been many new changes which have been made to prevent another stock market crash.
Conclusion
Funny how it all started with 24 merchants just meeting on a street. No one back then probably thought it would turn into this huge system that touches almost every part of the world.
Yeah, the market’s had its moments — the crash in ‘29? That was brutal. But it didn’t just fall apart. It got back up. Changed. Grew. Still kinda messy sometimes, but that’s how most big things are.
Now it’s not just rich folks or Wall Street guys trading. It’s everyone. With a phone and a few bucks, people can invest from anywhere. But it’s still the same game — buying, selling, hoping, reacting. The tools changed, but the goal didn’t.
Looking back at how it all started makes you realize how far it’s come. And how fast it can shift again.