If all it took was a bank holiday to get this market to rally, I'm sure government officials would have called one a long time ago! Today's gain of more than 11% in the S&P 500 is the sixth best one-day gain in the index's history (since 1928). To find the last time the S&P 500 rose by more than 10% you have to go back to the Great Depression (which is where a lot of comparisons to today wind up going). The table below shows the ten largest one-day percentage moves in the S&P 500 in its history, along with the index's performance the following day. Say what you want about it being a holiday or one-day wonder, but the bulls will certainly take whatever they can get. Go figure -- we're more than halfway there to a new bull market (20% rally). Everyone that works on Wall Street needs to remember what they had for breakfast this morning and have it again tomorrow.
Should we be concerned that the top three rallies were in 1929, 1931 and 1933? Hmmm.
I don't like the company we are in!
Posted by: Alfredo | October 13, 2008 at 10:36 PM
Yes all the other top 10's where not in a good time at all. All after large drops, the question always is, a bounce or start of a new leg? Plain to say a healthy market does not move 10% in a day
Posted by: Kurt | October 28, 2008 at 04:25 PM