WhyItDropped

S&P 500 · September 30, 2008

The day after the bailout was voted down

+5.42%

single-day change vs previous close

Part of a longer stretch

The Global Financial Crisis bear market

near the end of it · 2007-10-09 → 2009-03-09, -56.78% over the whole period

What happened that day?

  • On 30 September 2008 the S&P 500 rose 5.42% in a single day
  • The day before, the US House had voted down a $700bn financial rescue package and the market crashed
  • The objection was to using taxpayer money to cover banks' mistakes
  • But the market reaction was so violent that expectation of a revised bill passing formed immediately
  • A revised version did pass on 3 October
  • Passing it did not stop the decline, though. Bigger falls followed through October

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.