How many shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange on Black Tuesday in 1929?
Answer
16.4 million shares
About 16.4 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange on Black Tuesday in 1929.
Black Tuesday was October 29, 1929, when intense selling drove stock prices sharply lower. The trading volume was enormous for the era and became a vivid measure of the panic surrounding the Wall Street Crash. Many investors and institutions attempted to sell at the same time.
The day's activity followed Black Thursday, Black Monday, and other turbulent sessions. The market's decline did not end on October 29, but the date became the best-known symbol of the collapse because of the scale of selling and the damage to confidence.
The 16.4 million figure describes shares traded, not the number of investors or the total dollar value lost. It also refers to the New York Stock Exchange on that day, rather than to every U.S. exchange or every security market.