This month has been one of the worst-ever for stocks. Dow on a wild ride. S&P down 204 points - most ever.
As of Thursday's market close, the S&P 500 had plunged 18.2%, or 204.8 points, for the month.
That's the worst-ever monthly point decline for the S&P, and it's the eighth-worst percentage decline.
As
of Monday, the S&P 500 had dropped 285 points for the month. At the
time, the index was down 27.2%, which would have been the biggest
monthly percentage decline in 57 years and its second-worst performance
ever.
Stocks on Friday bounced up and down in the first hour of
trading. If they continue to fall, then the month's declines could
easily rival the 21.76 % plunge in October 1987, which includes the
infamous Black Monday crash of Oct. 19.
Trading has been extremely volatile, and recessionary fears have spread like a virus, roiling markets around the world.
"The
real problem is a total lock-up of the credit markets," said Wyss.
"I've never seen that before, just the inability for firms to borrow
money."
The Dow Jones industrial average is winding up one of its
most volatile months ever. The Dow plunged 15%, or 1,669 points,
through Oct. 30.
The Dow has enjoyed only six positive days so far,
and none of them were consecutive. The Dow plunged 2,400 points, or
22%, in the week ended Oct. 10. But the Dow also experienced its two
best sessions ever: a rise of 936 points, or 11.1%, on Oct. 13, and a
jump of 889 points, or 10.9%, on Oct. 28.
The Nasdaq, which consists primarily of tech stocks, plummeted 384 points, or 18.4%, through Oct. 30.
The
market malaise is in spite of the U.S. government's sweeping actions to
kick-start the economy, including Congressional approval of a $700
billion bailout for Wall Street firms, including buying stakes in
ailing banks, and the Federal Reserve agreeing to buy businesses'
commercial paper and cutting the federal funds rate by half a point, to
1%.
Many economists believe the economy is in a recession, while
noting that the current problems pale compared to the Great Depression,
which began in October 1929.
But as some economists are quick to point out, the current downturn isn't over yet, and no one knows how bad it will be.