Which 1989 crash followed the collapse of leveraged buyouts and junk-bond markets?

The Friday the 13th mini-crash followed the collapse of leveraged buyouts and junk-bond markets in 1989.

On October 13, 1989, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 190.58 points, or 6.91%. The drop was widely associated with the failure of a proposed leveraged buyout of United Airlines' parent company. The deal's financing depended heavily on high-yield, or junk, bonds, and investors were already concerned about the market for those securities.

The event became known as the Friday the 13th mini-crash because it was a sharp one-day fall but smaller than the 1987 Black Monday collapse. It exposed weaknesses in highly leveraged corporate finance and showed how stress in the junk-bond market could affect broader equities.

This crash should not be confused with the 1987 crash, even though both occurred during the same decade. The 1989 episode centered on leveraged-buyout financing and high-yield debt, while Black Monday involved a much larger global equity-market shock.