"An alluring corollary of this principle was that making money in the stock market was now the easiest thing in the world. It was only necessary to buy "good" stocks, regardless of price, and then to let nature take her upward course..."
Security Analysis (Chapter on New Era of Investing)
by Ben Graham, 1934
"The boom had become a full-fledged stampede. Several years later, Otto Kahn looked back toward the early days of September 1929 and concluded that the speculative movement had gained so much momentum by that time that nothing short of a crash could have brought it under control. The American public, Kahn testified, was 'determined to speculate. They were determined that every piece of paper would be worth tomorrow twice what it was today. I do not believe the whole banking community could have prevented it... When it had taken full sway of the people and there was an absolute runaway feeling throughout the country, I doubt whether anyone could have stopped it before calamity overtook us.'
"To liberal journalist Gilbert Seldes, the final days before the crash were the true time of panic. 'I call it panic to be afraid to sell at a profit, lest additional profit be lost,' Seldes wrote. 'The panic which keeps people at roulette tables, the insidious propaganda against quitting a winner, the fear of being taunted by those who held on, all worked together. It became not only a point of pride, but a civic duty, not to sell, as if there were ever a buyer without a seller.' |
