Causes of the Great Depression

STOCK MARKET SPECULATION
Each week the newspapers print a new story on the stock market crash. And in each new article is a new reason as to why this all happened. Apparently this thing called "playing the market" was happening, everyone was participating in it, and it led to the crash. How it goes is people invest money into a stock speculating that the price of the stock would increase and then they could sell off their share and make a quick buck. Most people didn't have the money to invest in the stock so instead they'd used buying on margin to take out a loan. Investors hoped they could play the market, earn a quick profit, and pay back their loan with no problem. But when consumer demand dropped, stock prices dropped instead of increase, the market collapsed, and many lost everything. My family was one of those people. I feel so disappointed that we were a part of why this happened. We gambled our money and we lost that and more in the end. I don't know what we're going to do now.
- Mary Anne Smith

http://www.archelaus-cards.com/archives/images/1930-01-10-b.gif
This political cartoon represents how Americans would attempt to play the market by investing then selling at what they hoped was the most profitable time. The man who jumped off the building (which represents selling your share) says, "Up three points? My Gawd, I jumped too soon!"