Sunday, March 30, 2014

Define "Boom Market"

A boom refers to a rising financial market. Another term for boom would be a bull market. Period that follows recovery phase in a standard economic cycle. A boom is characterized by an economy working at full or near-full capacity, strong consumer demand, low rate of unemployment, and a rising stockmarket, usually accompanied by rapidly increasing consumer prices (inflation).

Although the stock market has the reputation of being a risky investment, it did not appear that way in the 1920s. With the mood of the country exuberant, the stock market seemed an infallible investment in the future.

During a stock market boom the majority of stocks rise in price and there is often a euphoric feeling about the market. A boom market does not necessarily refer to the stock market as a whole. As more people invested in the stock market, stock prices began to rise. This was first noticeable in 1925. Stock prices then bobbed up and down throughout 1925 and 1926, followed by a strong upward trend in 1927. The strong bull market (when prices are rising in the stock market) enticed even more people to invest. And by 1928, a stock market boom had begun.

The stock market boom changed the way investors viewed the stock market. No longer was the stock market for long-term investment. Rather, in 1928, the stock market had become a place where everyday people truly believed that they could become rich. Interest in the stock market reached a fevered pitch. Stocks had become the talk of every town. Discussions about stocks could be heard everywhere, from parties to barber shops. As newspapers reported stories of ordinary people - like chauffeurs, maids, and teachers - making millions off the stock market, the fervor to buy stocks grew exponentially.

Although an increasing number of people wanted to buy stocks, not everyone had the money to do so. 


Individual sectors of the market can have explosive boom periods of high, often unsustainable growth, such as the boom in the dot com sector during the late 1990s.

The opposite of a boom period is known as a bust, and many sectors of the market traditionally have boom and bust cycles. Substantial profits can be made during a boom cycle of the market, but, similarly, fortunes can be lost when the boom ends and the prices of stocks fall.

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