Which 1989 crash in the United States followed the collapse of a highly leveraged leveraged-buyout market?

The Friday the 13th mini-crash was the October 13, 1989, U.S. market shock that followed the collapse of a highly leveraged leveraged-buyout market.

The immediate trigger was the breakdown of United Airlines’ proposed leveraged buyout. Investors had expected the transaction to proceed, but financing problems caused the deal to fail. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 190.58 points, or about 6.9%, in one session.

The decline was concentrated in takeover-related stocks and companies associated with corporate acquisitions. It was serious but much smaller and shorter than the global Black Monday crash of 1987. The unusual date gave the event its memorable name.

This episode is sometimes overlooked because it did not produce a long depression or a lasting worldwide collapse. It nevertheless showed how heavily borrowed corporate deals and takeover speculation could affect broader equity markets when expected financing suddenly disappeared.