The 13 Scariest Days in the U.S. Stock Market

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Investors didn’t have to wait for Halloween this year to experience several spooky days in the stock market. Financial advisors encouraging clients to take a long view with their portfolios might look back over the past 95 years, though, to show that equities have taken investors on even scarier rides.

The worst down day for the S&P 500 index so far this year — Sept. 13, when it fell 4.32% — didn’t make the top 100 most hair-raising trading sessions.

Morningstar Direct provided data on daily returns of the S&P 500 and its precursors from Jan. 3, 1928, through Oct. 14, 2022. Based on those statistics, here are the 13 most chilling days for U.S. stocks, most connected with larger calamities including the Great Depression, the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

While ghosts and goblins may have had nothing to do with these frightening market days, nearly half occurred during trick-or-treaters’ favorite month.

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