19. Oktober 1987: Ein rabenschwarzer Börsentag

Gestern jährte sich der wohl schwärzeste Börsentag des 20. Jahrhunderts zum 24. Mal:

On this day in 1987, the stock market suffered its worst crash of the 20th Century, even worse than 1929. The Dow lost 22% in a single day.[...]

A Brief 1987 Recap – Even if there had been no “October Surprise”, the year 1987 would have been a remarkable one for Wall Street. The Dow started the year below 2000 and ran to 2722 by early Fall. (A gain of nearly 38%.) The rally was breaking all the old rules. A group of guys in Chicago came up with a new rule called Portfolio Insurance ( or Dynamic Hedging) which might be synopsized as buy strength/sell weakness (we’ll explain another day). The U.S. dollar was weak and the subject of controversy. There was some conflict and confrontation in Iran (U.S. bombing Iranian oil platforms). The President’s wife and right hand had gone into the hospital for a rumored cancer operation. And there was a new SEC chairman who was misquoted in the midst of the free-fall suggesting that maybe markets should close. The misquote greased the skids.