Nasdaq · November 14, 1978
The 1978 dollar crisis
-20.37%
peak-to-trough, the whole slide
44 trading days · 1978-09-13 → 1978-11-14
back to the old high on 1979-07-26
What happened that day?
- From the 13 September 1978 peak to the 14 November low the Nasdaq fell 20.37% — 44 trading days
- Inflation kept running and trade deficits piled up, and the dollar was sliding fast
- A weaker dollar makes imports dearer, which pushes inflation higher — the two were dragging each other down
- On 1 November the US announced a dollar defence package: a sharp rate rise plus coordinated dollar buying with foreign central banks
- The dollar stabilised, but higher rates weighed on shares — hardest on the Nasdaq, full of small growth companies
- The old high returned on 26 July 1979
Sources
Every figure on this page is recomputed from the original daily closing prices and checked against them at build time. The account of what happened is written from the sources listed above.