The Dow (DJI) declined 53.7% in the '07-'09 bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a high of 14,095 on July 17, 2007 and hit bottom at 6,525 on March 9, 2009. From that low, it has rebounded some 62% though today. Technically a bear market is defined by a 20% decline in the Dow while a bull market is the opposite, a 20% rise - but as we know from history, bear market rebounds can reverse course.
Bear markets varied considerably in scope since the beginning if the 20th century. A chart of the Dow from 1920 to 1940 is at left, click to enlarge. Using the Dow Jones Industrial Average (again, ticker DJI), I calculated the impact of the Great Depression and that of each subsequent bear market since 1900, from peak to trough. The results were as follows:
1929-1932: -89.2%
1937-1938: -49.3%
1940-1942: -32.7%
1945-1946: -23.2%
1961-1962: -27.1%
1966-1967: -25.2%
A chart of the Dow over the period 1940-1960 is presented left. Click to enlarge. The period with the greatest volatility was 1960-1980. More bear market data follows:
1968-1970: -35.9%
1973-1975: -45.1%
1976-1978: 26.9%
1981-1982: -24.1%
1987-1988 -26.1%
1990-1990: -21.1%
2000-2002: -32.2%
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