# Market Corrections - 10 Worst



## SevenFX (20 September 2007)

From Dustin Woodard,

http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/history/p/crash1.htm

*10th Worst Stock Market Crash:*

2000 to 2002 Stock Market Crash
1932 - 1933 Stock Market Crash: 
The 10th worst market crash barely edged out the 1932 stock market crash as the 10th worst crash in U.S. stock market history. Being the most recent crash, it is the easiest for us to remember. 
This crash required the longest recovery time of all crashes in this list. The combination of the tech bubble bursting and the September 11th terrorist attack served a deadly blow to the stock market, but relative to markets past, this was a minor one. 

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:*

1916 - 1917 Stock Market Crash
1916 - 1917 Stock Market Crash: 
If the 1930s sounded like a long time ago, well to find the 9th worst market crash, I had to go back to the WWI era. 
As you will see, this market suffered about a 40% loss. It's difficult to break even after a 40% loss. On a $1,000 investment, your portfolio went down to $600. To get back to $1,000, it would have to go up 66.7%! 

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:*

1939 to 1942 Stock Market Crash
1939 to 1942 Stock Market Crash: 
Although this stock market crash only took the 8th spot, it was one of the most grueling. It took nearly 3 years to recover from this crash! With WWII and the attack on Pearl Harbor, the markets had a very tough time.

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: *

1973 - 1974 Stock Market Crash
1973 - 1974 Stock Market Crash: 
Another long market crash -one that many people still remember (think Vietnam and the Watergate scandal). This crash lasted for 694 days before bottoming out. 

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:*

1901 - 1903 Stock Market Crash
1901 - 1903 Stock Market Crash: 
This is the oldest crash to make the list (DJIA records are not available before 1900). To give you a perspective of what things were like during this time, take a look at these facts:
Life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 
Only 14% of homes had a bathtub 
Maximum speed limit in most cities was 10mph 
Average wage was 22 cents and hour - avg salary/year was about $300 
More than 95% of all births took place at home 
Only 6% of the population had graduated from High School 
The #1 cause of death was Pneumonia and Influenza 
The American flag had 45 stars

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: *

1919 - 1921 Stock Market Crash
1919 - 1921 Stock Market Crash: 
This crash followed a post war boom (Stock prices rose 51%). After the crash bottomed out in August of 1921, this decade saw tremendous growth in the stock market and the economy (often called the roaring twenties).

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 :* 

1929 Stock Market Crash
The 4th worst stock market crash in U.S. History: 
Although this is the shortest market crash observed, it was a deadly one. Investors saw almost half their money disappear in just two months. Often this crash is the worst in most people's minds. 
This crash kicked off what we now know as the "Great Depression." You can read more about this crash by visiting my This crash kicked off what we now know as the "Great Depression." To learn more about the crash, be sure to visit my 1929 crash resources. 

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:*

1906 - 1907 Stock Market Crash
1906 - 1907 Stock Market Crash: 
This crash was called the "Panic of 1907." The U.S. Treasury department bought 36 million dollars worth of government bonds to offset the decline (and remember, $36 million translates to a much bigger number in today's dollars).

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:*

1937 - 1938 Stock Market Crash
1937 - 1938 Stock Market Crash: 
Just when investors thought the market was finally good again, following a recovery of almost half of the great depression losses, the market plunged again due to war scare and Wall street scandals.

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:*

1932 Stock Market Crash
1932 Stock Market Crash: 
This is the grand daddy of them all. Investors lost 86% of their money over this 813 day beast. This market crash combined with the 1929 crash, makes up the great depression. 
If you had $1000 on 9/3/1929 (beginning of the 4th worst crash, it would have gone down to a whopping $108.14 by July 8th, 1932 (end of the worst crash) or an 89.2% loss. To recover from a loss like that, you would have to watch your portfolio go up 825%! The full recovery didn't take place until 1954, 22 years later! 

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%*


----------



## Bronte (20 September 2007)

Excellent thread / post SevenFX
Thank you, nice work


----------



## vishalt (20 September 2007)

Check this page out - gives a beautiful history of the biggest rises/history and original 30 Dow stocks. 

http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/index.cfm?event=showAvgStats

Anyway - those massive crashes happened all in the early days, when proper economic management was still being developed, people are a lot more educated these days and economic management/corporate governance and profits are increasing. 

An exception to that is the tech bubble I guess, when the NASDAQ got smashed from 5000 to 1000 I think?

Hope nothing that intensely severe happens in this century lol.


----------



## brilliantmichael (21 September 2007)

Fascinating thread SevenFX! Kinda puts things in perspective doesn't it? Hey what are _we_ complaining about then? (Well obviously the possibility of crashes on par if not worse may yet come in the future .....  )

Your little history is certainly food for thought.

Thanks for posting


----------



## Awesomandy (22 September 2007)

Just wondering, where would 1987 fit into this scale? From memory, it went down around 40%. 
(The problem is, however, the memory from when I was so young probably isn't the most accurate recollection.)


----------



## OK2 (22 September 2007)

that is brilliant.

perhaps a ten best run list one day perhaps?


----------



## brilliantmichael (22 September 2007)

OK2 said:


> that is brilliant.
> 
> perhaps a ten best run list one day perhaps?




That'd be interesting too, but don't the best of the bull runs take a lot longer? And at times they _precede_ crashes.

Funny how the market takes longer to approach the bull run, but then reflexively snaps back during a correction (kinda like seagulls or birds when you feed them... Timidly coming forward before BOO! they're frightened off haha)


----------



## noirua (1 February 2022)

For almost a half-century, value-investing icon Jeremy Grantham has been calling market bubbles. Now, he says U.S. stocks are in a “super bubble,” only the fourth in history, and poised to collapse. In this interview, Grantham, co-founder of Boston’s GMO, goes further, explaining his bubble analysis and discussing what he sees as multiple threats to the economy and the planet, including persistent inflation and climate change. He spoke exclusively with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg’s “Front Row.”

January 26 2022


----------



## Smurf1976 (1 February 2022)

Adding to the list, 2020.

Based on the DJIA:

Market peaked at 29,398.08 on 14 February 2020
Market bottomed at 19,173.98 on 20 March 2020

A loss of 34.8% over 35 calendar days or just 25 trading days from the high to the low.

Investors then regained all their money, in full, by the 13th of November 2020, meaning the entire crash and full recovery occurred in just 9 months.

Not sure if that's the fastest crash and recovery on record but it would be close surely? 

At this point it seems almost forgotten despite being such a recent occurrence.


----------



## UMike (2 February 2022)

noirua said:


> For almost a half-century, value-investing icon Jeremy Grantham has been calling market bubbles. Now, he says U.S. stocks are in a “super bubble,” only the fourth in history, and poised to collapse. In this interview, Grantham, co-founder of Boston’s GMO, goes further, explaining his bubble analysis and discussing what he sees as multiple threats to the economy and the planet, including persistent inflation and *climate change.* He spoke exclusively with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg’s “Front Row.”



Totally lost me with the CC argument.


----------

