Economics and markets

Why investors shouldn’t overreact to talk of a recession

August 30, 2022

Line chart shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index from 1973 through 2021, including its performance during seven recessions. During the recession that began in November 1973 and ended in February 1975, the S&P 500 Index reached its low toward the end of this period, in September 1974. The next recession lasted six months, from January through June 1980.The S&P reached its low in March, slightly earlier than in the previous recession. The recession that began in July 1981 lasted until October 1982. The low point of the S&P 500 Index occurred relatively late in the period, in July 1982. During the recession that began in July 1990 and extended through February 1991, the S&P 500 Index hit its low in the middle of the period, in October 1990. For the recession that occurred from March through October 2001, the low occurred late in the period, in September. The next recession started in December 2007 and lasted through May 2009. The low for the S&P 500 Index occurred near the end of the period, in February 2009. During the 2020 recession, which lasted only two months, the low occurred during the latter half of the period, in March.
Vanguard Information and Insights

Get Vanguard news, insights, and timely analysis on the market, delivered straight to your inbox.

Read our privacy policy to learn about how we keep personal information private.

* Indicates a required field

Vanguard Information and Insights

Thank you for subscribing to Economics & markets.

You'll be notified when new content is published, but will only ever receive one email a day from Vanguard Insights.

Vanguard logo

Vanguard is the trusted name in investing. Since our founding in 1975, we've put investors first.