Around midday, a small group of the biggest bankers met at the offices of J.P. Morgan and hatched a plan to stabilize the market. “The Bankers’ Pool,” as they were known, committed to buy $125 million in shares. Early in the afternoon, traders acting on behalf of the bankers began to place large buy orders above the most recent price.45 As news of the plan spread, other investors began to buy aggressively in response and prices rose. After hitting a low of 272 (down 33), the Dow Jones Industrial Index bounced back to close at 299, down only six points for the day.46 But as it turned out, this
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