When ‘The New York Times’ and ‘The Wall Street Journal’ agreed with and published Philip Snowden’s statement which described the American stock market as a speculative orgy, they could not possibly have forecasted that issuing such a negative statement would result in an immediate downturn of the stock market and would contribute to its almost continuous fall till its crash on ‘Black Tuesday’, when the Dow Jones Industrial Index fell by 12% as the trade of a record 16 million stocks took place. The role of speculation in an event which was arguably the biggest stock market crash in history has created in my mind various questions regarding the working of the commercial world and made me question the big role that speculators play in deciding stock prices. I feel that a degree in Accounting and Finance will allow me to answer these questions and further follow up on my interest by becoming a financial analyst. …show more content…
As thoroughly analysing these books has helped to form the basis of my understanding of the world of finance, regularly following the ‘Financial Times’ has exposed me to the various strategies employed by financial institutions to maximise profits. I am particularly fascinated by how Elliot Management, a vulture fund, in 2001, predicted Argentina’s inevitable economic collapse and exploited the situation by purchasing the debt ridden government’s bonds at discounted rates. When the expected occurred, the hedge fund through persistent rejection of low settlements, eventually managed to reach a compromise promising a 370% return on the original face value of the government