jungle

Some investors might think they have had a rough ride on the stock market over the past seven or eight months. But the recent share price gyrations pale into insignificance when compared with the biggest stock market falls of all time.

10) Wall Street 1901-03: -46%
The market was spooked by the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, coupled with a severe drought later the same year.

9) Wall Street 1919-21: -46%
There were fears that the new automobile sector was becoming overheated and that car ownership had reached saturation point.

8) Wall Street 1906-07: -48%
Markets took fright after President Theodore Roosevelt had threatened to rein in the monopolies that flourished in various industrial sectors, notably railways.

7) Wall Street 1937-38: -49%
This share price fall was triggerd by an economic recession and doubts about the effectiveness of Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal policy.

6) London 2000-2003: -52%
The UK took sixth place in the table with a 52 per cent market fall between 2000 and 2003 as investors suffered the consequences of the collapse of the technoogy bubble

5) Hong Kong 1997-98: -64%
The Hong Kong stock market’s heavy fall in 1997-1998 came as investors deserted emerging Asian shares, including a very overheated Hong Kong stock market

4) London 1973-74: -73%
Next came the UK stock market’s 73 per cent drop in 1973 and 1974. set against the backdrop of a dramatic rise in oil prices, the miners’ strike and the downfall of the Heath government.

3) Japan 1990-2003: -79%
In third place, with a 79 per cent decline, was the Japanese stock market, which suffered a protracted slide in price from 1990 to 2003 as a share and property price bubble burst and turned into a deflationary nightmare.

2) US Nasdaq 2000-2002: -82%
The second biggest collapse came from the technology-rich US Nasdaq index, which fell by 82 per cent following the bursting of the dot.com bubble in 2000

1) Wall Street 1929-32: -89%
The Wall Street Crash heads the list, with the US stock market falling by 89 per cent between 1929 and 1932. The bursting of the speculative bubble led to further selling as people who had borrowed money to buy shares had to cash them in in a hurry when their loans wre called in.

David Shwartz, the stock market historian, says: “The very big stock market crashes are invariably triggered by a series of different events which unfold one after the other. For example the biggest UK stock market slump in 1973-74 was started by the fear of stagflation, but was then fuelled by the dramatic rise in oil prices of late 1973, followed by the Miners’ strike and the downfall of the Heath government. One heavy blow is not enough to produce a market crash. It requires several different blows to bring a market to its knees.”


This list is slightly dated, and has some recent additions.

The Great Chinese Crash of 2008
By Todd Wenning
August 2, 2008 Comment (1) Recommend (13)
Starting last fall, the Chinese stock markets went into a nosedive not unlike the Nasdaq plunge of 2000. Since their October highs, the Shanghai Composite (SSE) is down 52%, and the Hang Seng is down 28%.

Planespotta

If that bailout bill isn't passed, we may well have a recession worse than what we faced in the 1930s.

jungle

Wringing out the excess rapidly can be a good thing if you are well positioned. It can be rather painful if you are not.


Big moves today.

Dow -735.55-6.60%
10,407.58Nasdaq -199.61-9.14%
1,983.73S&P -98.79-8.14%
1,114.48U.S. markets closed

cfii2007

Any idea how much the stock market tanked following 9/11?

jungle

Here are the Five Biggest One Day Point Losses for the DJIA:

1. 9/17/2001 -> -684.81 (first full day of trading after 9/11)

2. 4/14/2000 -> -617.78 (the Dot Com bubble is popping)

3. 10/27/1997 -> -554.26 (Asian stock market crisis)

4. 8/31/1998 -> -512.61 (LTCM Crisis)

5. 10/19/1987 -> -508.00 (Stock Market Crash of 1987)

Led Zep

If anything I think government intervention will make the situation worse. This is a very slippery slope that a lot of people are talking about - that being quasi-socialization with the government stepping in. This recovery is going to be painful for a little while, but I'm optimistic we are going to recover. I would rather take it in the shorts a little longer but with help coming from the private sector and not the public.

Planespotta

I don’t think many of us like the idea of a Federal takeover of so many financial assets (“socialism”), but a close examination of historical financial crises (which Treasury Secretary Paulson is an expert in) shows that as disagreeable as this bailout may be, to do nothing, which is already paralyzing the access to short-term credit upon which our economy depends, is certainly going to make matters worse, and we will miss an opportunity to avert a worse disaster. The key is to draft a plan which puts the taxpayer at minimal risk, and at maximum potential to reap profits should the threatened securities ultimately regain much of their former value

rickair7777

The original list, with percentage point losses, is more informative.

While the media certainly hyped up the "largest point loss ever" last week, they somehow failed to mention that the value of the DJIA is also higher than at most times in the past, so 700 points is a relatively small percentage change (about 7%). Much less than some of the historical drops.

jungle

Another list, and an interesting category of lifespan in days.



10 Worst Stock Market Crashes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 1/15/2000
Date Ended: 10/9/2002

Total Days: 999
Starting DJIA: 11,792.98
Ending DJIA: 7,286.27
Total Loss: -37.8%

9th Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 11/21/1916
Date Ended: 12/19/1917

Total Days: 393
Starting DJIA: 110.15
Ending DJIA: 65.95
Total Loss: -40.1%

8th Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 9/12/1939
Date Ended: 4/28/1942

Total Days: 959
Starting DJIA: 155.92
Ending DJIA: 92.92
Total Loss: -40.4%

7th Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 1/11/1973
Date Ended: 12/06/1974

Total Days: 694
Starting DJIA: 1051.70
Ending DJIA: 577.60
Total Loss: -45.1%

6th Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 6/17/1901
Date Ended: 11/9/1903

Total Days: 875
Starting DJIA: 57.33
Ending DJIA: 30.88
Total Loss: -46.1%

The 5th worst stock market crash:
Date Started: 11/3/1919
Date Ended: 8/24/1921

Total Days: 660
Starting DJIA: 119.62
Ending DJIA: 63.9
Total Loss: -46.6%

4th Worst Stock Market Crash :
Date Started: 9/3/1929
Date Ended: 11/13/1929

Total Days: 71
Starting DJIA: 381.17
Ending DJIA: 198.69
Total Loss: -47.9%

3rd Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 1/19/1906
Date Ended: 11/15/1907

Total Days: 665
Starting DJIA: 75.45
Ending DJIA: 38.83
Total Loss: -48.5%

2nd Worst Stock Market Crash:
Date Started: 3/10/1937
Date Ended: 3/31/1938

Total Days: 386
Starting DJIA: 194.40
Ending DJIA: 98.95
Total Loss: -49.1%

Worst Stock Market Crash Ever:
Date Started: 4/17/1930
Date Ended: 7/8/1932

Total Days: 813
Starting DJIA: 294.07
Ending DJIA: 41.22
Total Loss: -86.0%

HSLD

The duration of the 1930's crash is somewhat misleading, the close of 294 on 4/16/1930 wasn't seen again until 1954. I guess it's all about what the definition of recovery is.