“When the closing bell rang, the great bull market was dead and buried. 16,410,000 shares had changed hands. Leading stocks had lost as much as 77% of their peak value. The Dow Jones index was off 40% since September 3. Not only the little speculators, but the lordly, experienced big traders had been wiped out by the violence of the crash and the whole financial structure of the nation had been shaken to its foundations. Many bankers and brokers were doubtful about their own solvency, for their accounting systems had broken down. . . .”
–Jonathan Norton Leonard, Three Years Down
Read the quote and then answer the question below.
This passage explains that the stock market crash of 1929 damaged _____.
a.
only inexperienced investors
b.
only big traders
c.
only small speculators
d.
the nation’s financial structure
