Investment Banking

‘It frightened everyone on Wall Street’ – a memory of Black Monday

A former Goldman Sachs partner recalls what it was like to be surrounded by the panic and losses in the massive liquidity event

Wednesday 18 October 2017 at 23:01

Traders look up at screens on Black Monday in New York
Traders look up at screens on Black Monday in New York Photo: NY Daily News / Getty Images

October 19 is the 30th anniversary of “Black Monday,” the great US equities market crash in which the Dow Jones dropped 22.6 %, the largest single day decline then or since, and instantly spread to other markets in the world’s first massive liquidity event.

The event was sparked by the usual suspects – an overvalued five-year bull market (the S&P 500 index was up 44% on the year at its peak in August), some near-the-top volatility, and an early morning panic in Hong Kong that passed through Europe and hit NY like a hurricane.