(2 of 6)
Physician Richard Weiss listens to radio reports of the developing fiasco as he drives to work. Weiss pulls off the freeway and phones his broker with an % order to sell his entire portfolio. The broker ticks off plummeting quotes. "There's Disney going 78, 70, 68. We're making history here." Says Weiss: "We're doing it with my money." He loses $100,000.
NEW YORK, 11 A.M.
The mood turns surly at DLJ. "Get off my butt!" yells a sweating trader to another. As one man breaks into a stream of curses, Managing Director Eppel jumps to his feet. "Now stop it! Just calm down!" The Dow is down 201 points in 1 1/2 hours.
FRANKFURT, 4 P.M.
Treasury Secretary James Baker meets secretly with West German Finance Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg and Bundesbank President Karl Otto Pohl. Out of the session comes a statement pledging cooperation in stabilizing currencies. Earlier in the day, Bonn's central bank takes steps to ease interest rates.
NEW YORK, 11:45 A.M.
There is a glimmer of hope. After dropping 201 points, the Dow has gained 95 in the past 30 minutes. It now stands at 2130. Is a turnabout in the works?
NEW YORK, NOON
The Dow, now falling, is at 2103. Long lines of people form to take turns in the N.Y.S.E.'s spectator gallery. Heather Walker, 27, wants to "tell my grandchildren I was there." But she wonders if the crash means she will never be a mother. "Even in good times, men are scared of getting married," says Walker. "In the coming depression, forget it."
WASHINGTON, 12:30 P.M.
White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker is on the phone to N.Y.S.E. Chairman John Phelan, among others. Baker also calls Treasury Secretary Baker in Europe, and he agrees to return as soon as possible to Washington.
NEW YORK, 12:30 P.M.
The Dow is falling again, now down 173.
SAN FRANCISCO, 10 A.M.
At Associated Foreign Exchange, a precious-metals and foreign-currency brokerage, a run begins on Krugerrands, Canadian Maple Leafs and American Eagle gold coins. The frenzy ends only when the company's entire stock is sold: 2,500 coins worth nearly $1 million.
WASHINGTON, 1 P.M.
David Ruder, chairman of the SEC, inadvertently sets off rumors that the N.Y.S.E. may be shut down. The market skids an additional 100 points in the next hour.
CHICAGO, NOON
The Standard and Poor's 500 trading pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is quiet. Trading at the futures pit normally ratchets up or down in shifts of $5 to $20 a contract. Now it is moving in ticks of $250 to $1,000. )
SAN FRANCISCO, 10:45 A.M.
Pink buy and sell orders litter the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange. "I surrender!" shouts a frustrated dealer. Another slams his fist into his computer terminal.
NEW YORK, 2:15 P.M.
The Dow is down 300 points. Outside the N.Y.S.E., an investor jumps atop a parked car and screams, "Down with Reagan! Down with M.B.A.s! Down with yuppies!"
HOUSTON, 2 P.M.
Broker Walter Burke pauses amid the plaintive calls from his customers. "Everyone's scared," he says. "They're bailing out." But he finds one consolation. "A fast death," he philosophizes, "is better than a slow one."
BOSTON, 3 P.M.