April 15, 2008
While the marked closed higher, for the first time in three trading days, the gains amounted to less than one half percent. Yet, with the exception of the NASDAQ rise of 1.27 percent last Thursday, todays small increases are the largest since April 1.
Since the last peak, on October 9, 2007 for the DJIA and the S&P500 129 trading days ago these indices have lost -12.7 percent and -14.7 percent respectively. The NASDAQ after reaching its top a few days later, on October 31, has dropped -20 percent in 113 trading days.
In comparing these DJIA results with the decline that started toward the end of 2000, it turns out that the loss then, 129 days from that peak, was only -5.3 percent. But the S&P500 loss at that time was much steeper: -18.9 percent. Of course, the NASDAQ, reflecting the bust of its bubble, was down by -41 percent.
DJIA .49 percent
NASDAQ .45 percent
S&P500 .46 percent