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Business panic of 1907
Further information: Panic of 1907
In 1907, Roosevelt faced the greatest domestic economic crisis since the Panic of 1893. Wall Street's stock market entered a slump in early 1907, and many investors blamed Roosevelt's regulatory policies for the decline in stock prices.[166]  Roosevelt helped calm the crisis by meeting on November 4, 1907, with the leaders of U.S. Steel and approving their plan to purchase a Tennessee steel company near bankruptcy—its failure would ruin a major New York bank. He thus approved the growth of one of the largest and most hated trusts, while the public announcement calmed the markets.[167]

Roosevelt exploded in anger at the super-rich for the economic malfeasance, calling them "malefactors of great wealth."in a major speech in August entitled, "The Puritan Spirit and the Regulation of Corporations."