Monday's record-breaking Dow drop may have little impact, experts say

One called it a "typical, garden-variety correction."

ByABC News
February 5, 2018, 6:29 PM

— -- Monday marked the largest single-day drop in the history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in terms of index points.

But that doesn't mean it will necessarily have a lasting impact, experts told ABC News.

Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's Analytics, dismissed the drop as relatively temporary, saying that unless it holds for multiple weeks, it likely won't make much of an impact.

PHOTO: Dow plunges 1,175 points in worst day for stocks since 2011.
Dow plunges 1,175 points in worst day for stocks since 2011.

"It feels like a typical, garden-variety correction. The stock market has come a long way in a very short period of time and even with the declines over the last week, we're back to the same place we were at the beginning of the year," Zandi told ABC News.

"We're still up 20 percent or so from where we were a year ago so for an average American worker, small shop owner, no big deal. This is not going to affect them in any meaningful way," Zandi said.

The drop of 1,175.14 points is the largest in one day. The previous record was on Sept. 29, 2008, when it fell 777.68 points. On Oct. 15, 2008, the Dow declined 733.08 points.

PHOTO: A trader works on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange, Feb. 5, 2018 in New York.
A trader works on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange, Feb. 5, 2018 in New York.

"For the average investor, this might be a signal that the easy money is over," Zandi said.

"It's been pretty much straight up since 2009, since the recession, and I think it's going to be much more difficult to make big gains in the market going forward, and the fundamental reason why is because the economy is at full employment. Wage and price pressures are starting to develop and interest rates are starting to rise and the deficit finance tax cut means that the Treasury will have to borrow a lot more money and that means higher interest rates," he said.

When looking at drops based on the percentage of the overall market, however, Monday's doesn't even make the top 10. A Dow Jones spokesperson told ABC News that Monday's performance, losing 4.6 percent, marks the 100th worst single-day drop. The worst came on so-called Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, when the market plummeted 22.61 percent.

PHOTO: A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Feb. 5, 2018.
A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Feb. 5, 2018.

Mayfair Advisors fund manager Larry Glazer told ABC News that the drop Monday comes as a result of "an economy that's in transition right now."

"You have the fastest rate of growth in the economy that we've seen in a decade, and you also have a fast rate of wage growth," he said. "This should be good news for Main Street, it should be good news for investors, it should be good news for consumers, and they have certainly embraced that."

He added that investors had been seeing "the fastest rate of growth in the economy that we've seen in a decade," in addition to a fast rate of wage growth.

"We've seen that optimism in small businesses, we've seen that optimism with investors and consumers -- maybe too much so," Glazer said. "And a little bit too far, too fast, so here the stock market is giving back some of those gains."

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