One of the worst financial disasters in history unfolded on Wall Street in late October of 1929. Within a week, 30 billion dollars had disappeared into thin air, leaving the global economy in tatters and heralding the beginning of a worldwide Depression. But what exactly happened? And why? In Part 1 of this 3-Part series on the Wall Street Crash of 1929, we discover how the American public became fatally infatuated with the stock market during the “Roaring 20’s”; and how one debauched day trader – Jesse Livermore – saw the whole thing coming.

SOURCES: Ahamed, Liaquat. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. 2009. Blumenthal, Karen. Six Days in October. 2002. Charles Rivers Editors. Jesse Livermore. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. Wall Street. 2020. Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Great Crash 1929. 1955. Galbraith, John Kenneth. A Short History of Financial Euphoria. 1990. Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street: A History. 1997. Klein, Maury. Rainbow’s End. 2001. Morris, Charles R. A Rabble of Dead Money. 2017. Nations, Scott. A History of the United States in Five Crashes. 2017. Parker, Selwyn. The Great Crash. 2008. Perino, Michael. The Hellhound of Wall Street. 2010. Rubython, Tom. Jesse Livermore: Boy Plunger. 2016. Thomas, Gordon. Morgan-Witts, Max. The Day the Bubble Burst. 1979. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices