The correct answer is A) Stock market speculation.
Speculation is a term used in the stock market industry. This term represents when people make risky financial decisions in hopes of earning a profit on their stocks. The speculation of stocks helped lead to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. This strategy failed because when stock prices began to drop, many stock owners became to panic and tried to sell their stocks immediately. However, since prices were dropping, they could not find any legitimate buyers for their stocks. This resulted in the continued drop in prices of these stocks until they were almost worthless.