This Day in History – March 4th
March 4th, 1957 – The S&P 500 index is introduced. Although Standard and Poors introduced its first stock index in 1923, today marks the anniversary of the S&P 500 index as we know it today. It closed the day at 44.06.
Best March 4th in S&P 500 History:
2009 – Up 2.38%
Worst March 4th in S&P 500 History:
2003 – Down 1.54%
Best March 4th in Dow Jones Industrials History:
1926 – Up 4.38 %, or 6.32 points
Worst March 4th in Dow Jones Industrials History:
1897 – Down 1.88% or .57 points
Chart of the Day
The S&P 500 since its creation in 1957:

Since March 4th 1957 the S&P 500 has returned 4424%, not counting dividends.
Or, a compounded annual growth rate of 6.67%, not counting dividends.