When Equities Fell Most and Least Sharply in 2008
December 29, 2008
| DJIA | Nikkei | Dax | |
| January | -4.6% | -11.2% | -15.1% |
| February | -3.0% | +0.1% | -1.5% |
| March | -0.0% | -7.9% | -1.7% |
| April | +4.5% | +10.6% | +4.7% |
| May | -1.4% | +3.5% | +2.1% |
| June | -10.2% | -6.0% | -8.6% |
| July | +0.4% | +2.3% | +1.0% |
| August | +1.3% | -5.2% | -0.9% |
| September | -6.0% | -13.9% | -9.2% |
| October | -14.9% | -23.8% | -14.5% |
| November | -5.3% | -0.8% | -11.9% |
| December | -3.6% | +2.8% | +7.1% |
The above table shows month-end to month-end changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Japanese Nikkei and German Dax. Each of these indices has dropped at least 35% so far in 2008. The Dow performed much better than stocks in Japan or Germany last January and over the first third of 2008. In the middle third of the year, June was the worst month for all three markets but especially the Dow. July-August had the year’s best two-month sequence. The failure of Lehman Brothers in mid-September changed market sentiment decisively. Between the ends of August and November, the DJIA fell 23.5%, less than the plunges of 31.6% in the Dax and 34.9% in the Nikkei. In contrast, whereas the Dax and Nikkei have recovered 7.1% and 2.8% this month, the Dow has lengthened its year-to-date drop, which stands at 36.5% compared to nearly identical drops since end-2007 of 41.7% in the Dax and 42.9% in the Nikkei.
During the previous three calendar years, the German Dax advanced 27.6% in 2005, 21.2% in 2006, and 22.3% in 2007. The Nikkei had soared 40.2% in 2005 and gained a further 6.9% in 2006 before losing 11.1% in 2007. After sliding 0.8% in 2006, the Dow advanced 16.3% in 2006 and 6.4% in 2007.
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