The Rise of Australasia

As the end of June 1926 approached, stocks had become a topic of lively conversation across the entire United States.

From capitalists and dignitaries to peddlers and workers, and even the ubiquitous vagrants on the streets, many were discussing the soaring stock prices.

Merely investing 100 dollars could yield an income of more than 10 dollars a day, such an exaggerated net profit!

Moreover, the value of stocks kept compounding, and once the value of the stocks held reached an exaggerated figure, the profits from the stock appreciation became an unimaginable number.

In fact, a clear problem with stocks was already apparent by then: if everyone was making money, who was losing it?

Even with stocks, there has to be a balance; if everyone entering the market is making money, where is that money coming from?

However, it was obvious that, apart from some well-connected and powerful capitalists, everyone else was blinded by such earnings and simply couldn’t contemplate whether there was a problem behind it all.

Because everyone was afraid of being left behind, their fear was that if they gave up on these earnings, others would seize their opportunity, taking away their chance to become rich.

Starting at the end of June, stocks in various industries kept rising, no longer limited to real estate.

Almost all industrial stocks were on the rise, and anyone entering the stock market could make a handsome profit without seeing any news of stocks performing poorly.

Under such circumstances, all enterprises kept reporting profitable news, adding momentum to the rise of their stocks.

On the rooftop of the New York Mobile Building, two middle-aged men each held a glass of red wine, clinking their glasses before taking a sip. One of them smiled and said, "What a great plan, Mark, now the American Stock Market is in complete disarray. The collapse of the New York Stock Exchange can’t be far off."

"It’s just to complete the task from above," said the man called Mark, taking a sip of his red wine nonchalantly.

"It’s madness, with daily participation in the New York Stock Market reaching over a million people. If the New York Stock Market collapses, I bet these millions will immediately jump off buildings," said the person beside Mark, laughing lightly as he watched the constant flow of people in and out of the stock exchange below.

"It’s also time to prepare to withdraw, Thomas. The New York Stock Market won’t last much longer, and such madness is bound to be just the common people’s self-entertainment, which can’t deceive the clever for long." Indifferent to Thomas’s amazement beside him, Mark finished his red wine, set his glass on the table next to him, left some instructions behind, and walked away.

"Heh, what a mysterious and terrifying guy," Thomas shook his head with a light chuckle and turned to follow Mark’s steps.

Starting in July 1926, a few hotly-valued companies quietly withdrew from New York. Because the stock market was so busy, the news of the departure of the people behind these companies did not become a headline.

But this could not be concealed from some of America’s big capitalists, and before long, other significant American consortiums also began to withdraw from the New York Stock Market.

However, the capitalists reached a tacit agreement not to alarm the frenzied public, which meant that the withdrawal of the capitalists did not significantly impact the market, which could still hold steady for the time being. ṙã₦öВÊꞩ

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And precisely because the stock market was stabilizing, the withdrawal of capital became relatively easy.

New York’s Stock Market is one of the largest in the world, with most American enterprises and factories concentrated there, hailed as the financial capital of the world.

Under Britain’s deliberate control, the London Stock Exchange’s rise was no longer so wild. This allowed the New York Stock Exchange to surpass London’s in a short period and become the holy land for stock speculators worldwide, thanks to the Crazy May.

Indeed, the public’s frenzy over the stock market was not without panic, but Andrew Mellon, the then-Finance Minister, made a bold assurance to the public after the end of Crazy May, stating there was no reason to worry about the New York Stock Market, that the climax of prosperity would continue, and that any situation was controllable by the American Government.

It was precisely because of the government’s declaration that the American people chose to believe that the current rise of the stock market was normal.

But was the American Government’s assurance valid? Perhaps not.

On July 14, 1926, after the day Westerners generally find ominous, the 13th, American stock traders thought they would welcome a day of great harvest.

But unexpectedly, the New York Stock Market fell by 3% as soon as it opened, and within one day, it plunged by a crazy 11%, reducing the traders’ assets and income by more than a tenth.

What was even more unexpected for the traders was that this day was just the beginning, the start of a complete stock market collapse.

Because it was a Thursday, this day was dubbed "Black Thursday" by American stock traders. It became an example shunned in stock trading circles and a cautionary tale for speculators.

If the news before July 14 was about the stock market surges everywhere, then the news after July 14 was all about the New York Stock Market’s drastic fall.

Starting from July 14, over three days, the American Stock Market’s trading index fell by 37%, with a staggering volume of 69 million share transactions.

In those three days, less than 22 million dollars flowed into the stock market, while over 103 million US dollars flowed out, proving the panic of small investors who began to frantically prepare to abandon their stocks and exit the market.

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