The twenty worst and best days for every series, and what followed
The largest one-day falls and rises on record for each stored series, with the drawdown from the high at the time, the realised volatility going in, and the change over the following day, week, month and three months. Historical context, not a forecast.
Findings
- The S&P 500's worst session in the stored record was 2020-03-16 (−10.94%). Three months after its twenty worst days, 12 of 20 were higher — which says how wide the outcomes were, not what comes next.
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Method
Ranked by close-to-close percentage change. Forward changes are measured from the day's close to the close the given number of sessions later; a day too close to the end of the record for a horizon is left blank. No index level is included. Sources: Daily closes from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), Twelve Data; series and identifiers in the source manifest at /market-memory/source-manifest.json. Definitions and biases on the Market Memory methodology page.
Use it
Free to reuse with attribution: “Source: Wealth Signal Market Memory (https://www.wealthsignalnyc.com/research/worst-and-best-days/), as of 2026-10-26.” The CSV holds derived statistics only — frequencies, percentage changes, counts and dates — and no index level, which is the licensed thing.
| series | kind | rank | date | move pct | drawdown from high pct | realised vol 20d pct | next 1 day pct | next 1 week pct | next 1 month pct | next 3 months pct | as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 1 | 2020-03-16 | -10.942 | -29.11 | 76.95 | 5.399 | -7.046 | 15.806 | 28.018 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 2 | 2008-10-15 | -9.845 | -42.47 | 82.78 | 4.166 | 0.689 | 1.277 | -6.243 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 3 | 2020-03-12 | -9.568 | -26.67 | 58.85 | 8.549 | -3.063 | 11.104 | 21.16 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 4 | 2008-12-01 | -8.858 | -47.53 | 75.45 | 3.848 | 10.827 | 9.901 | -12.642 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 5 | 2008-09-29 | -7.836 | -28.82 | 45.47 | 4.139 | -5.98 | -15.82 | -21.97 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 6 | 2020-03-09 | -7.809 | -18.95 | 43.97 | 5.174 | -12.537 | -3.318 | 17.857 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 7 | 2008-11-20 | -7.423 | -51.78 | 76.36 | 5.394 | 19.404 | 15.388 | 2.691 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 8 | 1997-10-27 | -7.247 | -11.2 | 30.24 | 5.771 | 7.814 | 9.247 | 12.079 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 9 | 1998-08-31 | -7.134 | -19.03 | 36.08 | 4.232 | 7.292 | 5.99 | 20.964 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 10 | 2008-10-09 | -6.984 | -42.04 | 54.66 | -2.426 | 3.385 | 3.484 | -1.775 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 11 | 2011-08-08 | -6.512 | -28.26 | 30.58 | 4.65 | 7.447 | 7.153 | 11.776 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 12 | 2008-11-19 | -6.408 | -47.92 | 72.56 | -7.423 | 9.166 | 8.209 | -8.405 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 13 | 2025-04-04 | -5.854 | -17.56 | 32.07 | -0.178 | 5.672 | 10.592 | 22.772 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 14 | 2020-06-11 | -5.765 | -11.15 | 28.63 | 1.198 | 3.716 | 4.734 | 11.071 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 15 | 2000-04-14 | -5.719 | -11.44 | 27.19 | 3.493 | 4.596 | 7.858 | 11.029 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 16 | 2008-11-06 | -5.541 | -41.94 | 93.32 | 3.302 | 0.341 | 0.154 | -4.138 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 17 | 2008-10-22 | -5.445 | -42.08 | 87.41 | 1.158 | 2.692 | -16.759 | -8.308 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 18 | 2009-01-20 | -5.279 | -48.51 | 31.58 | 4.319 | 4.915 | -2.966 | 5.573 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 19 | 2001-09-17 | -5.225 | -32.08 | 25.99 | -0.24 | -3.452 | 5.455 | 8.466 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | worst | 20 | 2008-10-06 | -5.093 | -33.08 | 50.58 | -4.479 | -3.218 | -4.116 | -10.743 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 1 | 2008-10-13 | 14.52 | -35.23 | 77.82 | -1.48 | -2.506 | -11.426 | -14.05 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 2 | 2008-10-28 | 11.686 | -40.08 | 95.29 | -0.725 | 7.093 | -5.109 | -9.823 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 3 | 2025-04-09 | 10.502 | -10.49 | 50.22 | -4.382 | -4.185 | 2.865 | 13.671 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 4 | 2020-03-24 | 9.06 | -28.13 | 90.54 | 1.497 | 6.005 | 14.777 | 28.336 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 5 | 2020-03-13 | 8.549 | -20.4 | 68.69 | -10.942 | -15.045 | 5.373 | 12.955 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 6 | 2009-03-23 | 7.183 | -47.46 | 50.09 | -1.97 | -4.172 | 2.822 | 8.587 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 7 | 2008-11-24 | 6.929 | -45.66 | 80.82 | 0.741 | 0.282 | 1.917 | -11.067 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 8 | 2020-04-06 | 6.717 | -21.72 | 91.61 | 0.102 | 7.147 | 7.321 | 18.47 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 9 | 2008-11-13 | 6.234 | -41.74 | 73.23 | -4.991 | -17.243 | -3.751 | -13.107 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 10 | 2008-10-20 | 6.008 | -36.85 | 85.9 | -2.986 | -15.039 | -11.871 | -14.938 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 11 | 2002-07-24 | 5.966 | -44.83 | 39.98 | -0.85 | 7.602 | 14.117 | 5.666 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 12 | 2009-03-10 | 5.961 | -53.88 | 43.44 | 0.651 | 8.328 | 14.355 | 31.135 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 13 | 2020-03-26 | 5.839 | -22.8 | 93.08 | -2.979 | -3.587 | 9.897 | 17.668 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 14 | 2000-01-07 | 5.808 | -0.77 | 28.08 | 0.343 | 0.836 | -0.986 | 3.902 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 15 | 1997-10-28 | 5.771 | -6.08 | 37.26 | -0.271 | 1.932 | 3.592 | 6.54 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 16 | 2022-11-10 | 5.495 | -17.38 | 31.22 | 0.968 | -0.114 | 1.079 | 4.596 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 17 | 2020-03-17 | 5.399 | -25.28 | 80.77 | -5.063 | -3.817 | 10.403 | 23.797 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 18 | 2008-11-21 | 5.394 | -49.18 | 77.73 | 6.929 | 3.257 | 8.35 | -3.332 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 19 | 1998-10-15 | 5.376 | -10.62 | 33.91 | 0.029 | 2.123 | 6.842 | 17.37 | 2026-10-26 |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | best | 20 | 1998-09-08 | 5.371 | -13.13 | 42.85 | -2.427 | 1.032 | -5.704 | 15.473 | 2026-10-26 |