Market Watch: Stock Market RegulationEnrons and Worldcoms have made it clear that financial markets cannot be left under the auspices of corporate directors and officers, without supervisory authority. “The corporate abuses and frauds exemplified by Enron, while not the first in the financial markets, were certainly the first in terms of the magnitude of shareholder losses and the confidence the public placed in the financial sector (Bequai 2003). " Following the stock market crash of 1929, regulations such as the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 were established to prevent practices like those that contributed to the collapse of Enron and Worldcom. In this report, I will briefly explore some popular reasons why the 1929 market crash occurred, the events leading up to the market crash, and the regulations instituted by the government to protect investors. The 1920s, after the end of World War I, were considered a time of prosperity and technology with innovations such as the automobile and radio ushering in the . The economy was strong and millionaires were being created every day. But soon this economic bubble was about to burst. Like the markets of the 1990s, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached tremendous heights. Many investors quickly bought shares in hopes of making a lot of money. Stocks were considered extremely safe by most economists, due to the powerful economic boom. Investors bought shares on margin. For every dollar invested, a margin user would borrow $9 worth of shares. Because of this leverage, if a stock rose 1%, the investor would earn 10%! It also works in reverse, exaggerating even minor losses.