On September 29, 2008, after Congress failed to pass a $700 billion bank bailout plan, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points—at the time, the largest single-day point loss in its history.
Down 7 percent, a greater loss than the 684.81 skid on September 17, 2001 (the first trading day post-9/11), the S&P 500 also suffered its biggest one-day loss since the 1987 crash, dropping 8.8 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 9.1 percent, its biggest single-day point loss in eight years.
The huge decline followed the bankruptcies of Wall Street brokerage firm Lehman Brothers, Savings and Loan bank Washington Mutual, as well as the Fed’s announcement that it would provide an $85 billion bailout for insurance provider American International Group (better known as AIG) to keep it from going under.
Here's What Caused the Great Recession
Also playing into things was a housing slowdown that triggered homeowners to suffer subprime mortgage defaults, widespread job losses and the Fed’s intervention to bail out investment bank Bear Stearns, as well as government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Congress’s inability to pass the Bush administration’s bill led to fears that the nearly frozen credit markets wouldn’t be able to rebound quickly, causing sellers to shed their stocks. The Dow drop equaled a whopping $1.2 trillion loss in market value, contributing to the 18-month-long Great Recession.
Congress eventually did pass a bailout bill, with Bush signing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The Dow drop remained the largest single-day point loss until 2018.
The first stock ticker (top left) was invented by E. A. Calahan in 1867. Since then the ticker underwent many changes. The advent of the ticker revolutionized the stock market by making up-to-the-minute prices available to investors around the country. Previously, updates from the New York Stock Exchange were carried by messenger or the postal service.
New York Stock Exchange building on Broad Street, New York, NY, opened in 1903. Designed by architect George B. Post, it features grand Corinthian pillars, statues by John Quincy Adams Ward, a marble trading floor and a 70-foot-high ceiling.
On September 16, 1920, a wagon parked in front of Wall Street's Assay Office exploded at 12:01 p.m. The explosion was so powerful that it reverberated through the streets and sent a car flying into the 34th floor of the Equitable Building, before crashing down to the ground. Thirty people were killed and hundreds were injured.
Stock prices began to decline in September and early October 1929, and on October 18 the fall began. Panic set in, and on October 24, Black Thursday, a record 12,894,650 shares were traded. By October 28, known as Black Tuesday, a panic ensued with 16 million shares traded away, and the over the next day, the market lost $30 billion.
It took all of the 1930s for the market to recover from the crash during a period called the Great Depression. Here, bankrupt investor Walter Thornton tries to sell his luxury roadster for $100 cash on the streets of New York City following the crash.
Wall Street experienced one of the largest single-day crashes, with a $500 billion loss when markets plummeted worldwide on October 19, 1987. The computers of Wall Street were programmed to sell stock at specific price thresholds. After the 1987 crash, special rules were implemented to allow automated protocols to be overridden and prevent future disasters.
Sculptor Arturo Di Modica created "Charging Bull" in 1989 as a symbol, in his words, of the “strength and power of the American people” after the stock market crash of 1987. In 2017, artist Kristen Visbala crafted a bronze statue of a girl, fists on her hips, staring down “Charging Bull.” "Fearless Girl" was sponsored by the investment firm State Street Global Advisors as a way to promote gender diversity in business.
While "Fearless Girl" proved popular, city officials said its placement created a pedestrian hazard and sculptor Di Modica argued it changed the symbolism of his "Charging Bull" to a negative one. In December 2018, the statue was moved to a new spot across from the New York Stock Exchange.
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