For those of you not old enough to remember “… the biggest market crash since 1929 …”, which occurred on Monday October 19th 1987, dubbed Black Monday (no not when Rick Monday hit the home-run to knock the Expos out of the playoffs). It was the first major stock realignment that I lived through as an Adult, and it was quite sobering. Many folks lost a great deal of money, and there were some very unhappy folks that day. I didn’t have any money in the market back then (directly), but the company I worked for was harmed by the downturn and I ended up leaving to join Nortel as part of this stock market drop.
I didn’t really learn anything from that crash, just that they can happen, but I did find on YouTube an interesting segment from Wall Street Weekly on PBS, the Friday after Black Monday, where the late Louis Rukeyser tries to get his viewers to calm down, very interesting stuff. Also note the “Financial Companies” that sponsored the show (and I love that TECHNO font they used in their titles too). Enjoy this and wonder what might have been in their minds at the time.
It’s a scary reminder of how markets govern all our financial futures. With the recession still having it lingering effects, we should take a look at how we are leading our financial lives and adapt our lives.