David S. Wallens wrote: I think 1987 because percentage-wise nothing has yet touched that drop.
Really? Largest one day percentage drop, maybe, but '08 was more than a 50% drop. 1929 was more than 80%. Wasn't '87 like 25%? Don't get me wrong, if I saw a 25% drop in one day I'd freak out for sure. That's a big deal. But '08 was a much bigger drop, just over a longer period of time.
Dunno, I made $3.35 and hour in '87. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the market. I could be wrong.
Wow, want to see something crazy? Look at this.
$DJIA 1940 - 1960
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia19401960.html
1960 - 1980
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia19601980.html
1980 - 2000
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia19802000.html
Okay, you ready for this? 2000 to today
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia2000.html
Look at that peak in Aug. 2000. 11215. Where did we close today, more than a decade later? 11269.
your 1980 - 2000 is a repeat of the 1960 - 1980. lurn 2 link, n00b!
In reply to AngryCorvair:
Fixed.
By making a statement using the 1987 single day drop as evidence, he has chosen a statistical anomoly just for the sake of making his point.
It's an outlier. His point is worthless.
If he tried to make the same point about 2008 it wouldn't work. If he tried to make the same point about 1927, he would have to wait something like 25 years for the recovery.
Don't bring this up. Don't even talk about it. It will probably affect the market in a bad way.
SVreX wrote: By making a statement using the 1987 single day drop as evidence, he has chosen a statistical anomoly just for the sake of making his point. It's an outlier. His point is worthless. If he tried to make the same point about 2008 it wouldn't work. If he tried to make the same point about 1927, he would have to wait something like 25 years for the recovery.
If you got in on the highest day of 1965, you didn't start making money until 1982. I'm just starting to think we've all been told some stuff that's not always true.
'Buy low, sell high.' If you can swing it, add to your stuff while the market is down.
Losses in the stock market are paper losses, UNLESS you panic and pull your funds out. If you do, you have just turned a paper loss into a real one.
I have 2 401's. One is kinda conservative, it only lost ~ 4% during the last meltdown but has finally made it all back. The other is an aggressive fund, it lost 50% in the big downturn but has made almost all of it back. Hell of a wild ride if you follow it. I try not to watch too closely. 
Well, thought this was worth a follow up.
By smarts, instinct or dumb luck (pretty much dumb luck, really) I got this one right.
I moved half of my 401k into a fixed income fund on 8/5. I moved the other half out on 8/11. First half went back in on 8/18, second half in the next day.
Well, I'll be damned if I didn't get it pretty close to right. Meh, would have been a lot better to get out a lot earlier. But I did okay. S&P is back to levels pretty comperable to where I started playing around with things and I'm up about $17,000. Not exactly buy low, sell high- more like sell low, buy lower. But it can work.
Will I do it again? Probably not the way I did this one. I really do think I got lucky. But I'll be keeping an eye on $INX 200 day moving average.
We'll see...
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