Main street prices hit the wall as US fortunes are lost

Massive sums were wiped off of US stock shares as the crash began to eat into savings and bonuses across the whole of corporate America.

Wall Street suffered its biggest one day fall on 27 October when it fell a massive 554.26 points, down 7.18 per cent. Trading for the two days beforehand had seen the Dow Jones fall by only 2.33 per cent, down 186.68 points and 1.69 per cent, a fall of 132.26 points respectively.

The massive fall raised fears among shareholders', which have traditionally invested in IT stocks due to their good trading history. However, some analysts believed that the stock was rated too highly, leading to millions being wiped off their share value when the crash occurred last week. A seven per cent fall caused Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, to lose $1.76 billion after the company's US shares closed on 27 October.

Other technology companies were also hit, with many falling by more than 10 per cent. This includes Dell, which fell by $12, down 12 per cent, and Yahoo whose shares lost $9, a fall of 20 per cent.

But there was some hope for traders and investors as the Dow Jones recovered slightly on 28 October, jumping 337.17 points, a rise of 4.7 per cent.

It has subsequently showed a slight day on day increase.