Historical Crashes
Pull up the charts a desk actually watched during each crisis — and read them then vs now, on the same scale. Pick a crash to see its signature indicators, search any of the 1,000+ series into the frame, then click any chart to open a full-screen two-up where you drag to pan and scroll to zoom the timeline — and save the charts and comparisons you want to keep.
1973–74 Oil Shock & StagflationS&P −46%
1973–1974
OPEC embargo quadrupled oil while price controls came off — the textbook stagflation: double-digit inflation and a deep recession at the same time.
6 signature charts →
1980–82 Volcker DisinflationS&P −27%
1980–1982
Paul Volcker drove the funds rate to ~19% to break inflation — two recessions and the highest unemployment since the Depression, but inflation was slain.
6 signature charts →
1987 Black MondayS&P −34%
1987
The single worst day in market history — the S&P fell 20% on Oct 19, 1987 as portfolio-insurance selling cascaded. No recession followed.
5 signature charts →
2000–02 Dot-Com BustNasdaq −78%
2000–2002
Internet-stock valuations collapsed: the Nasdaq fell 78% peak-to-trough as profitless growth met rising rates, dragging the economy into the 2001 recession.
6 signature charts →
2008 Global Financial CrisisS&P −57%
2007–2009
Subprime mortgages detonated the banking system; after Lehman fell the credit machine seized. The S&P lost 57% — the worst crisis since the Depression.
6 signature charts →
2011 Euro Debt Crisis & US DowngradeS&P −19%
2011
Greece/Italy/Spain sovereign fears collided with the US debt-ceiling standoff; S&P stripped the US of its AAA on Aug 5, 2011 and equities fell ~19%.
5 signature charts →
2013 Taper Tantrum & Gold Crash10y +115bp · gold −30%
2013
Bernanke hinted the Fed would slow QE; the 10-year jumped 115bp in months, EM currencies cracked, and gold crashed ~30% — a pure rate-shock, no recession.
6 signature charts →
2020 COVID CrashS&P −34%
2020
The fastest bear market ever: the S&P fell 34% in five weeks as the pandemic shut the economy. Emergency Fed facilities stabilized credit by April.
6 signature charts →
2022 Inflation & Rate-Hike Bond BearS&P −25% · Agg −13%
2022
The most aggressive hiking cycle since Volcker: 0% → 4.5% in nine months. The worst bond year since the 1980s (Agg −13%) and a 25% equity drawdown.
6 signature charts →
Charts compare the same public series across eras. Where a series did not yet exist — Nasdaq before 1972, the VIX before 1990 — that chart is hidden for the older crashes, never faked.