Worst Stock Market Crash: 1930-1932

Worst Stock Market Crash: 1930-1932

This is the grand daddy of them all.
Investors lost 86% of their money over this 813 day beast.
This market crash combined with the 1929 crash, makes up the Great Depression.

If you had $1000 on 9/3/1929 (beginning of the 4th worst crash, it would have gone down to a whopping $108.14 by July 8th, 1932 (end of the worst crash) or an 89.2% loss.
To recover from a loss like that, you would have to watch your portfolio go up 825%!!!!
The full recovery didn't take place until 1954, 22 years later!

Date Started: 4/17/1930
Date Ended: 7/8/1932

Total Days: 813
Starting DJIA: 294.07
Ending DJIA: 41.22
Total Loss: -86.0%

Bulls and Bears: Tales of the Zoo: The 10 worst stock market crashes in U.S. History

 

You can't forget the crashes in the late 1930's either. They capped off a truly terrible decade that was blissfully ended with WWII... ahhh the good old days!

 

I wonder what the time to recovery would have been if instead of investing $1000 on 9/3/1929, you dollar cost averaged into the market by investing $80pcm for a year starting on the same day? Or $40pcm for 2 years? Or $20pcm for 4 years? etc.

After all, how many people had a lazy grand back in 1929?

 

I LOVE 'facts' like this.
What if you had invested $1000 1 year before. What about 2 years, 3 years etc. Then what would the outcome be.

It Kinda reminds me of watching the nightly news... The stock exchange lost $X million today, really, from who's pocket?

 

It's also worth noting that this is only nominal recovery as well as it doesn't factor the erosion of value via inflation during 22 years.

 

So start with $108.14 and 22 years later you have $1000 that's a micky hair over 10.6% CAGR