September 17th – This Day in Stock Market History

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Quote of the Day

“Predicting rain means nothing – building arks does.”

-Warren Buffett in his 2001 letter to shareholders.

September 17th – This Day in Stock Market History

September 17th, 2001 – Stocks trade again for the first time since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Trading opened with a moment of silence followed by a singing of “God Bless America”.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average would close the day down 684 points, -7.13%. At the time it would be the largest 1-day point decline in history, 14th worst day in terms of percentage drop.

Front page Wall Street Journal coverage on stocks trading for the first time since the September 11th attacks
Front page Wall Street Journal coverage on stocks trading for the first time since the September 11th attacks

US stocks would struggle for the remainder of the year as the shock of 9/11, and the ensuing consequences, were processed. In total, stocks would fall another 13% from where they closed after September 11th before rebounding.

Best September 17th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History

1931 – Up 2.10%, 2.50 points.

Worst September 17th in Dow Jones Industrial Average History

2001 – Down 7.13%, 684.81 points.

Read of the Day

One of the companies that took the biggest financial hit was Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, due to his insurance and re-insurance operations. In 2001, Berkshire lost $3.77 billion. Buffett’s 2001 shareholder letter, reacting to the losses due to the 9/11 attacks, is a great source of education for investors within the insurance industries.

You can find the letter here.

Also, you can find a book which has a collection of the shareholder letters of Berkshire Hathaway from 1965 to present here

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