This Friday marks the 80th anniversary of the greatest gain in the Dow’s history. On March 15th, 1933, the Dow soared 8.26 points to 62.10 for a gain of 15.34%. That would be like a gain of 2,200 points today.
Technically, I’m not sure if it counts as the greatest single-day gain because FDR had declared a national bank holiday. There hadn’t been any trading since March 3rd.
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But, as Bloggingeezer said back in 2008:
"Ja, ja, So Your U.S. Market is Up a Bit, Ever Hear of Berlin, 1923?"
This morning both the DJIA and S&P are up a bit over 1.1%.
Here's a partial repost from Oct. 13, 2008 when the DJIA was up 11% on the day.
(sticking with the language of love, I was dancing around calling it 'Die Glückliche Zeit' [The Happy Time] which was the German term for the period when the u-boats were running free and sinking Allied shipping virtually at will).
If you are any good at this stuff volatility is your friend.
At least until everyone else quits and you're bartering junk silver for wheat as the world sinks into a new dark age.*
...It was while skimming the GFD list that this popped out (remember this is inflation adjusted!):
Best and Worst Investment Periods in Germany
What
were the best and worst months in the history of the German stock
market? The most obvious factor is the importance of the hyperinflation
of 1922 through 1924. The data have been calculated in real returns,
adjusting for inflation during the hyperinflation of the 1920s, and as
you can see, the hyperinflation provided investors with both strong
returns and dismal returns, though more of the latter. The dates outside
of the 1920s which registered as among the best and the worst are
conspicuous, October 1949 for the stabilization of the German financial
system, November 1918 for the end of World War I, September 1931 in the
middle of the collapse of the German economy, and of course, October
1987.
| Best Months | Percent Return | Worst Month | Percent Return |
| September 1923 | 99.12% | August 1922 | -43.90% |
| December 1922 | 67.91% | December 1923 | -31.68% |
| June 1923 | 60.38% | July 1922 | -29.94% |
| August 1924 | 47.66% | August 1923 | -29.32% |
| November 1923 | 38.25% | November 1919 | -29.26% |
| October 1949 | 32.04% | April 1924 | -27.98% |
| April 1920 | 31.67% | September 1931 | -25.85% |
| February 1923 | 29.58% | October 1922 | -24.65% |
| April 1923 | 29.28% | November 1918 | -23.16% |
| October 1923 | 26.20% | October 1987 | -27.31% |
The Best and Worst Years
What
about the best and worst years for stocks in Germany? Again, the 1920s
and 1930s dominate the data, with 1923 providing probably the strongest
return to any stock market in the history of stock markets as German
stocks recovered from the collapse into hyperinflation of 1922 when
stocks provided their worst returns in German history. The post-World
War II period also provided some of Germany's best returns....MORE
