Yesterday we looked at the Dow-Jones. Today, as part of our 2008: Year in Review series, I want to examine the performance of the NASDAQ, which is heavy with tech companies, and the S&P 500.
The NASDAQ, which includes Google and Apple, two of my personal favorites, had its worst year on record, losing an astonishing 40.5% of its value.
This does not necessarily mean it has hit bottom yet, however. I went back to the dot.bomb era to examine the yearly losses for the period 2000-2.
During that market correction, the NASDAQ listings lost a cumulative 71.6% before rebounding into the tremendous period of growth we witnessed from 2003-07.
The only other significant recession in NASDAQ's history, since its founding in 1971, was 1973-4, when it endured a 49.3% retrenchment.
Now, on to the venerable Standard & Poor's 500 stock index. Standard & Poor's introduced its first stock index in 1923. Prior to 1957, its primary daily stock market index was the "S&P 90," a value weighted index based on 90 stocks.
The S&P 500 index in its present form began on March 4, 1957. For a list of the 500 companies, follow this link.
So, how did the S&P perform in 2008? It suffered its worst one-year drop since 1937 at 38.49%.
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