The Markets During Kennedy's Assassination

Money Matters
The Markets During
Kennedy’s Assassination
November 22, 2003
Presented by The Money Management Firm, Inc.
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Fifty-eight percent of Americans weren’t born when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. I’m in the minority; I can remember his funeral.
The stock market had been in rally mode since the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. From that time until the end of October 1963, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 35%. Then, in early November, stocks started falling, due in large part to the coup in South Vietnam. The United States’ involvement in that war was just starting to heat up; we had sent thousands of military advisors (but no combat troops) to the country. Many former administration officials say Kennedy didn’t like South Vietnam’s leader and didn’t lift a finger to help him when the coup started. That set the tone for much of the month.
Stocks traded quietly in the early hours of November 22. Then, when the first reports of the shooting came to the exchange just after 1:30 eastern time, stocks started selling off, as they often do during major world crises. Less than one-half hour later, when Kennedy’s death was confirmed, the sell-off accelerated. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.89% of its value.
As calamitous as the assassination was, its effects did not linger in the stock market. By the end of 1963, stocks had recovered all of their November losses. Six months after the assassination, the Dow Jones index was 12.04% higher. One year after the event, the index was up 21.58%.
The world event with the most impact on stocks was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. When stocks resumed trading on the following Monday, the index lost 7.12% of its value.

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