Top 10 Stock Market Drops & Recoveries

After significant declines, stocks have tended to break even quickly. One year after each of the S&P 500 Index’s 10 worst one-day drops (prior to 2020), the Index notched double-digit positive returns in all but one instance—and remained positive three and five years later, too. This is a hopeful sign for long-term investors since three of the worst single-day declines occurred in 2020. The chart below doesn’t include reinvested dividends, which would have made the returns even higher.

10 Worst Single-Day Percent Declines for US Stocks 1980–2020

Date	Cause			Annualized (%)
Date	Cause	One-Day Fall (%)	# Days To Reach Previous High	Return After 1 Year	Return After 3 Years	Return After 5 Years
1. October 19, 1987	Black Monday	20.47	264	23.19	11.59	13.03
2. March 16, 2020	COVID-19 Pandemic	11.98	19	66.07	?	?
3. March 12, 2020	COVID-19 Pandemic	9.51	20	58.96	?	?
4. October 15, 2008	Global Financial Crisis	9.03	15	20.79	10.50	13.34
5. December 1, 2008	Global Financial Crisis	8.93	6	35.85	15.11	17.22
6. September 29, 2008	Global Financial Crisis	8.79	410	4.14	1.60	8.87
7. October 26, 1987	Black Monday 2.0	8.28	5	23.59	10.20	12.92
8. October 9, 2008	Global Financial Crisis	7.62	3	17.76	8.30	12.73
9. March 9, 2020	COVID-19 Pandemic	7.60	57	41.10	?	?
10. October 27, 1997	Asian Financial Crisis	6.87	8	21.48	16.30	0.47

Past performance does not guarantee future results. Data shown is for the S&P 500 Price Index as of 3/31/20 and does not include the reinvestment of dividend payments. Indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment. Data Sources: Morningstar, Ned Davis Research, and Hartford Funds, 4/21.

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S&P 500 Index is a market capitalization-weighted price index composed of 500 widely held common stocks.

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