Black Monday was the 1987 stock-market crash whose first major U.S. shock saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall 22.6% in one day.
The date was October 19, 1987. Markets had already weakened, and investors were concerned about trade deficits, interest rates, slowing growth, and overvalued shares. Computerized trading and portfolio-insurance strategies accelerated selling as prices dropped, although historians and economists continue to debate the precise balance of causes.
The decline was global: markets in Hong Kong, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other financial centers also suffered severe losses. Unlike the 1929 crash, Black Monday was followed by a relatively quick recovery in the broader economy and did not lead to a decade-long depression.
The term “Black Monday” can refer to other financial disasters, so the year matters. In stock-market history, the unqualified term usually means the October 19, 1987 crash.