Stimulus Package Details| Stock Market Crash | Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Ups And Downs Of The Stock Market

Is it any wonder you lost stomach lining every time you opened up one of your portfolio statements in 2008?

On January 4, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 12,800 points. A year later, on January 2, 2009, it had fallen to 9,034 a decline of about 30%. In the first 30 days of Barack Obama’s presidency, it fell another 20%.

Following is a blow-by-blow account of some of the most tumultuous days in the financial history of America, the worst and the best stock market days.

This information was compiled by Jennifer Croft, who also wrote about medical marijuana in Denver, Colorado.

The Stock Market In 2008

March 17, 2008
UP: On fears that Bear Stearns, one of Wall Street’s biggest players, would collapse and credit would dry up, the stock market went on a rollercoaster ride. The Dow ended the day up 20 points, closing at 11,972.

September 15, 2008
DOWN: Lehman Brothers collapsed. The Dow fell 504 points, closing at 10,917, shedding more than 4% of its value, or approximately $700 trillion.

September 17, 2008
DOWN: The U.S. Government agreed to rescue insurance giant AIG with an $85 billion bailout. The Dow fell 449 points, closing at 10,609, shedding about 4% of its value.

September 18, 2008
UP: Across the world, central banks injected billions into the credit market. The Dow rose 410 points, closing at 11,016 points, a gain of almost 4%.

September 19, 2008
UP: News spread of a U.S. government economic bailout. The Dow rose 368 points, closing at 11,388, a gain of more than 3%.

September 29, 2008
DOWN: The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion economic stimulus package. The Dow fell 777 points, closing at 10, 365, shedding almost 7% of its value, or $1.2 trillion.

September 30, 2008
UP: Bargain-hunter investors swooped in after a 777-point plummet the previous day. The Dow rose 485 points, closing at 10,580, a gain of nearly 5%.

October 7, 2008
DOWN: The $700 billion stimulus package passed, but that did nothing to reassure investors. The Dow fell 508 points, closing at 9,447, shedding more than 5% of its value.

October 9, 2008
DOWN: Investors panicked again. The Dow fell 679 points, closing at 8,579, sloughing off more than 7% of its value.

October 13, 2008
UP: After the worst week in the Dow’s 112-year history, there was nowhere to go but up. The Dow rose 936 points, closing at 9,389. This represented the largest point gain in history, a rise in value of 11%.

October 15, 2008
DOWN: A grim retail news report was released, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the U.S. economic recovery would be slow. The Dow fell 733 points, closing at 8,577 points, shedding almost 8% of its value.

October 16, 2008
UP: Oil dropped to below $70 a barrel for the first time in fifteen months. The Dow started the day with a 400 point fall, before ultimately rallying to finish the day up 401 points, closing at 8,879, a gain of 4%.

October 20, 2008
UP: Wall Street celebrated on the news of an impending economic stimulus package and more available credit. The Dow rose 413 points, closing at 9,265, a gain of more than 4%.

October 22, 2008
DOWN: Weak third-quarter earnings sparked fears across America. The Dow fell 514 points, closing at 8,519, shedding more than 5% of its value.

October 28, 2008
UP: With expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates, the Dow rose 889 points, closing at 9,069 . This second largest point gain in history represented an almost 11% gain in value.

November 5, 2008
DOWN: The day after the historic election of President Barack Obama, the stock market reeled. The Dow fell 486 points, closing at 9,139 points, shedding approximately 5% of its value.

November 13, 2008
UP: The previous three days of losses had wiped out $1 trillion in value – in other words, stocks were on sale! The Dow rose 552 points, closing at 8,835, gaining almost 7% in value.

November 21, 2008
UP: President-elect Barack Obama named Tim Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury. The Dow rose 494 points, closing at 8,045, gaining more than 6%.

December 1, 2008
DOWN: The National Bureau of Economic Research finally confirmed that the country was in a recession – that started in December 2007! The Dow fell 679 points, closing at 8,149 points, shedding almost 8% of its value.

The Stock Market In 2009

The beginning of 2009, with all the promise of billions more being pumped into the economy – more economic stimulus packages, economic stimulus bills, economic stimulus plans, and economic bailouts on the horizon – didn’t seem very promising.

On February 23, 2009, the Dow fell 250 points, closing at 7,114. This represented a decline of almost 50% from the all-time high in October 2007. Worse, it represented a 19% plummet from the opening bell of 2009.

At the close of business on February 27, 2009, the Dow was at 7,062 points.

In March 2009, the Dow posted its best four weeks since 1933, in terms of percentage gains, a whopping 20.4% rise, closing over 8,000 points.

Click here to read more about how the Dow Jones Industrial Average is calculated, and what 30 companies make up the Dow.

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