The stock market’s historically bad run

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Some fun (well, maybe that’s the wrong word) facts from Rob Arnott:

1.  As of today, this is now the second-biggest six-month decline in US stock market history.  The only bigger six-month drop was barely larger, 51% in the crash of 1932.  If tomorrow is a repeat of today, we’re in new territory.  Fortunately, that previous example was in the *last* six months of the crash, though we should be careful not to rely too heavily on a single previous example.

2.  Expressed in real terms, the all-time-high was 2000, not 2007. We’re down 60%, in real terms, from that high.  This has happened only three times in US market history.  1929-32 (-83%), 1852-57 (-66%) and 1905-21 (-65%).  Another 15% drop (i.e., another 6% from peak levels) and we’ve got the second worst overall decline ever.