Quote from Q12:
I agree... anything drastic and the Fed steps in. When it comes to a complete meltdown, for what it's worth, in both 1929 and 1987 the market peaked 55 days prior to "crashing." While anything could happen, I'm leaning toward some additional selling on Monday but some buying into the close and a small move up over the next few days. Just when everybody begins to get comfortable we'll begin to fall apart again. I don't recall the exact figures, but in Barron's today they mention the fact that since 1965 the DJ30 has fallen in excess of 3% on a single day around 42 times... they go on to mention that in (around) 33 of these situations the market was higher 60 days later, by 4.5%+ on average (again, these are approx. figures from my failing memory).
here you go:
So where do 3%+ declines usually occur during bull and bear markets? We looked at all bull and bear markets going back to 1962 to find out. If a bear market has indeed started, the 3%+ decline just 5 days in, will be the earliest yet. As shown in the first table below, most come well into bear markets. If the bull market continues, past data shows that there are plenty more days to come before the end of the cycle.
In all instances of 3%+ declines, the averages show that the S&P 500 rises in the month and three months following. When the 3%+ declines come during bear markets, the average gain over the next month is 3.40% and 4.35% over the next three months. When the 3%+ declines come during bull markets, the average gain over the next month is 2.95% and 9.32% over the next three months.
Good warning; even if all details arent 100% accurate