Archives for November 2018

Here in my office at Money Map Press is a collection of important "stuff" – and by "stuff," I'm talking about the photos, letters, documents, stock certificates, postcards, et al., that I employ in an effort to make my Private Briefing missives stand out from all the other newsletter offerings out there.

And tucked into my files is a special issue of Time magazine. The cover – in bold, black, capital letters – fairly screams, "THE CRASH."

The issue was dated Nov. 2, 1987. And a hefty slice of it was focused on "the crash of '87."

That was the Oct. 19, 1987, sell-off that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop 508 points – at the time a heart-stopping plunge of 22.61%.

I pulled that magazine out of my files after the market closed on Oct. 24. That's the day the Dow plunged 606 points – prompting talk of a "new market reality"… perhaps even a bear market.

I remember the same kind of talk following the "Black Monday" plunge of 1987. Indeed, the Time magazine cover alliteratively warns readers that, following a wild week on Wall Street, "the world is different."

As it turned out, that prognostication was incorrect. The crash of '87 had little lasting impact. So folks who overreacted hurt themselves.

There's no way to tell if the latest sell-off is the start of something worse – or just another "non-event."

The reality is that it doesn't matter.