They were active.

They sowed wind, and wind, and ever more wind; for they alone knew how to reap the whirlwind and make a profit out of it.

And such profits! Colossal profits! Strong enough themselves to weather the storm that was largely their own brewing, they turned loose and plundered the wrecks that floated about them.

Values were pitifully and inconceivably shrunken, and the trusts added hugely to their holdings, even extending their enterprises into many new fields--and always at the expense of the middle class.
Thus the summer of 1912 witnessed the virtual death-thrust to the middle class.

Even Ernest was astounded at the quickness with which it had been done.