December 6, 1974, marked the bottom of the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the 1973–1974 stock-market crash.
The Dow closed at 577.60 on December 6, 1974, after falling about 45% from its January 1973 high. The decline unfolded over nearly two years, making it a prolonged bear market rather than a one-day collapse. Inflation, recession, the 1973 oil shock, and the Watergate crisis all damaged investor confidence.
The crash occurred in an unusually difficult economic environment known as stagflation, in which prices rose while economic growth weakened. The oil embargo announced by Arab members of OPEC in October 1973 intensified energy costs and economic uncertainty.
The date is a market bottom for the Dow’s closing value, not the end of every economic problem. U.S. inflation remained high, and the economy took time to recover. The Dow later began a long advance, eventually surpassing its previous 1973 high in 1982.