1960's Business and the Economy | The Boom on Wall Street

Up, Up, and Away.

Ever since mid 1949, when the Dow Jones industrial average stood at 161, the stock market had been rising. By 1959, despite the recession, the Dow Jones average was 685. In 1960, however, the market seemed to stall, and in 1962 it suffered its worst year since 1931: in June, when the market hit bottom, the Dow had lost 27 percent of its value since December. But from that point on to 1966, the market shot up, with the Dow Jones gaining 460 points, inching above the 1,000 mark in January. Although it would drop from that peak, in the years 1962 through 1968 the market increase was greater than the famous bull market of the 1920s.

Mutual Funds.

Although nearly thirty million Americans held stock, few knew much about the market. This limited knowledge led many to play the stock market through mutual funds. Although they had existed since the 1920s, mutual funds did not become popular until the 1950s,...