Known as Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, was the worst day in stock market history with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 22.6%. Here's a look back at the market event and how major market indexes have returned in the last 38 years.
Black Friday Anniversary
Every couple of years, market experts and investors point to similarities in stocks of potential overvaluation and debt concerns that could cause market crashes on par with Black Monday.
None of the drops since the 1987 event has been as drastic as Black Monday.
"38 years ago today was the worst single day in the history of the US stock market," Carson Research Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick tweeted on Oct. 19, 2025.
Market experts have pointed to multiple causes that may have caused Black Monday, including trade deficits, rising interest rates, concerns that stocks were overvalued and the declining value of the U.S. dollar.
On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% closing at 1,738.94. The S&P 500 fell 20.4% closing at 225.06.
Here are the worst-performing days by percentage based on data from Carson Research for the Dow Jones Industrial Average:
- Oct. 19, 1987: -22.6%
- Dec. 14, 1914: -20.5%
- Oct. 28, 1929: -13.5%
- March 16, 2020: -12.9%
- Dec. 18, 1899: -12.0%
- Oct. 29, 1929: -11.7%
- Oct. 5, 1931: -10.7%
- March 12, 2020: -10.0%
- Nov. 6, 1929: -9.9%
- Aug. 12, 1932: -8.4%
While Black Monday was the worst percentage drop, it is now only the 130th largest point drop as the Dow Jones Industrial Average grows in value.
The March 16, 2020, decline, which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, is the largest point drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with a decline of 2,997.10 points. The March 12, 2020, decline is the second-largest point drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with a 2,352.60 point drop.
Read Also: S&P 500 Is Trading Like It’s 2000—History Shows What Happens Next Isn’t Pretty
Markets Recovery
While the stock markets suffered their biggest one-day decline on Black Monday, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 finished 1987 in positive territory.
"Even though the Dow fell 22.6%, it is important (and surprising to many) to note that stocks still finished higher in 1987," Detrick tweeted.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.26% in 1987, while the S&P 500 was up 5.25% for the year, according to data from SlickCharts.
In fact, over the last 38 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has only had a negative annual return in nine of the 38 years. This means that 76.3% of the time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been positive since 1987.
Investors have more ways to invest in leading stock market indexes now with the introduction of the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which were introduced in 1998 and 1993, respectively.
Since their lows on Black Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are up 2,571.5% and 2,882.8%, respectively.
A person who invested $1,000 in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Black Monday would now have $26,941.28. Someone who invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 Index on Black Monday would now have $29,805.68.
The returns over the last 38 years show that while stock market indexes don't go straight up and have periods of decline, they often produce strong annualized returns over time.
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