Dow Jones Industrials -40% Declines 1885 to 2008

From 1885 to 2008, (123 years) the Dow Jones Industrial Average, (DJIA*) has fallen -40% from a bull market high on only nine occasions. Such deep bear markets are always historic and distressing.



My BEV Chart presents a unique view of the 123 year history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average by rendering each Dow data point into specific percentage information ranging from 0% to -100%. This format allows direct comparison of every bull and bear market cycle from 1885 to 2008.



When new all-time highs occur, they are recorded as 0% in the BEV chart. So understand that bull markets are seen as a series of 0% in a BEV chart. All other data points that are * not * new all-time highs are reduced to a precise negative percentage decline from its last all-time high. There are compromises in processing market data like this, but more is gained than lost by compressing 123 years of DJIA history into percentage terms bounded in a range between 0% to -100%. Charting the data as published actually provides little historical information due to the effects of monetary inflation over the decades. Below is a chart of the unaltered data I used in creating my DJIA BEV charts. Compare the information displayed by my above BEV charts with what you see below.

http://www.gold-speculator.com/mark-lundeen/5071-dow-jones-industrials-40-declines-1885-2008-a.html