The first month of 1989’s “Friday the 13th” stock-market crash, in which the Dow fell 6.9%, was October.
On Friday, October 13, 1989, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 190.58 points, or 6.9%. The decline followed the collapse of a proposed leveraged buyout of United Airlines’ parent company. Investors worried that the failed deal signaled wider problems in corporate finance and the market for highly leveraged transactions.
The episode is often called the Friday the 13th mini-crash because it was severe but much smaller and shorter-lived than the 1987 Black Monday crash. The market’s earlier gains and the relatively quick stabilization helped limit its lasting economic damage.
The date also makes the event easy to confuse with other market shocks associated with Friday the 13th. Its defining details are the year 1989, the month October, and the failed United Airlines buyout. It did not mark the beginning of the 1990s recession, although broader economic concerns were present around the same period.