With all three averages losing more than one percent today, the market experienced its worst day since October. And there is more bad news – the DJIA posted its fourth loss in a row. Further, looking ahead to tomorrow, the record shows prices declining more often than they recovered on the following day. Our diagram plots these facts, distinguishing between the current and the previous two bull markets.
The frequency of the DJIA, the NASDAQ, and the S&P500 each losing more than one percent is far greater when prices trend down. This happened 20 and 25 percent of the time in the last two bear markets; the comparable rate ranges from 6 to 9 percent during bull markets.
DJIA -1.09 percent
NASDAQ -1.47 percent
S&P500 -1.26 percent