TheStreet Staff Recalls Black Monday and the Crash of 1987
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Version 0 of 1. For many investors, investment professionals and even us journalists who were around to witness Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987 is a day they remember. Whether as a monumental event for the world of trading or a window of weakness on an otherwise strong financial decade compared to the 1970s. There's no denying the events of the day: Then-high tech trading tools and complex hedges caused sellers to hit the sell button over and over and over and over again and the markets tanked. The Dow lost 500 points in a single trading day, 22% of the market or almost a 6,000 point-equivalent in today's Dow. Individual fortunes seemed to have gone up in smoke in the course of hours. But at the same time, others argue that it was a crash without consequence. A crash that was expected to signal the next Great Depression, but didn't. The markets would recover in the coming months and the '80s continued into the '90s. The Lacoste collars went from popped to not, Kevin Costner went from "Field of Dreams" to "Dances With Wolves," but not much changed. The opinions of colleagues (many now working in our main office at 14 Wall Street) and others who witnessed the day's events seem to differ so much. But the longer I talked to those people the more I understood that Black Monday was something either you remember deeply or you sort of marveled at the event but shrugged off. It either led to a shift in trading practices and technology or was just an inevitable blip on the radar as the modern financial system took shape. It's hard to explain, even when you ask the savviest professionals. To help investors — and myself — understand the mood of the day I decided to ask some of our top reporters, editors and columnists to weigh in and describe what they remember from that day. Needless to say, when you ask a bunch of financial journalists—many of whom were in different careers or fields of journalism 30 years ago—what they were doing during the worst day in financial markets history you get a range of responses. Add to the equation some were in diapers and others playing ultimate Frisbee in the quad and the mix is entertaining to say the least. Some detailed and poignant, others a bit more vague. Many of the stories are New York-centric, but others from across the country felt the impact. Here we go: David Callaway, CEO, TheStreet Inc. (TST) -- Leon Lazaroff, Deputy Managing Editor, TheStreet -- Michelle Lodge, Senior Editor, TheStreet -- John Pickering, Senior Editor, TheStreet -- Stephen "Sarge" Guilfoyle, Columnist, TheStreet.com/Real Money -- Ronald Fink, Executive Editor, The Deal -- Editor's note: In 1987 Ron worked at Medical Economics, a trade publication for doctors then located in Oradell, N.J. Living on the Upper East Side ... I cringed at Ron's commute as I read his account. Steve Zuckerman, Senior Editor, TheStreet -- Steve was the only one brave enough to supply a photo of himself: Editor's note: This last one, a parody of The Beatle's 1965 song "Yesterday," was unedited for your reading pleasure. Tom lives in California. What can I say? The sun brings out the creativity: Tom Bemis, Senior Editor, TheStreet -- Ends, Tom now writing for Katy Perry The "Crash of '87 -- TheStreet Special Report" is a series of stories, videos, graphics and other multimedia elements that look at the stock market crash of 1987, also known as Black Monday. TheStreet examines the cause of the crash, reveals some of the hottest stories of the day, and discovers what could cause a similar crash in the future. How can we prevent another Black Monday? Read more about the Crash of '87. |