8 Years Ago Today, The Market Hit An Eerie Bottom

With the S&P 500 now resting comfortably above 2300, it seems almost incomprehensible that on this day just eight years ago the S&P dipped to its intraday financial crisis low of 666. The connotation of the number was chillingly representative of the terror that was rampant on Wall Street at the time. The fear that coincided with the worst part of the market sell-off transcended those related to portfolio returns and retirement plans. On March 6, 2009, Americans were concerned that the U.S. economy was collapsing.

Traders and money managers remember the chaos on Twitter each year on this date.

Yahoo Finance editor Sam Ro remembers watching multiple people “talking about the end of capitalism” on CNBC that day.

I remember watching CNBC and multiple people were talking about the end of capitalism. https://t.co/vJoKI130hK

— Sam Ro (@bySamRo) March 6, 2017

Ritholtz Wealth pointed out that the Dow Jones Industrial Average had given up 54.4 percent of its 2007 high, eliminating more than half of the wealth invested in its stocks.

Ritholtz CEO Josh Brown tweeted and blogged that is simply “felt like the end.”

@bySamRo it felt like the end. the amount of money and reputation being destroyed daily was traumatizing.

— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) March 6, 2017

It was a Friday. The Dow hit 6469, a level it hadn't seen since April 1997, after falling 14 of its last 19 sessions. No one rang a bell. https://t.co/Gy0rgQY2Sb

— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) March 6, 2017

The memory of the market bottom unquestionably left a lasting impression on every investor. Eight years later, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) is up 244.5 percent from those lows and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE: DIA) is up 215.1 percent. The S&P 500 may have left 666 behind long ago, but the memories of the financial crisis will stay with investors forever.

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