The Kennedy Slide was the U.S. stock-market crash that followed the 1961–1962 speculative boom in technology and growth shares.
The decline began in late 1961 and intensified in the spring of 1962. Investors had pushed prices of fashionable growth companies to high valuations, while concerns about economic growth, interest rates and corporate earnings weakened confidence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply, including a dramatic drop on May 28, 1962. The episode received its name because it occurred during the presidency of John F. Kennedy, although it was not caused by one presidential decision.
The crash is sometimes confused with the later Nifty Fifty decline of the early 1970s. The Nifty Fifty referred to a group of popular large growth companies whose valuations later collapsed, whereas the Kennedy Slide belongs to the earlier 1962 market downturn.