Ashby Daniels

A 4% drop is more common than you think

A 4% drop in the market isn't as unusual as you might think. By my count (using Bespoke's chart), there have been 53 since 1980. That's more than one per year.

Log-scale chart of the S&P 500 from 1951 to 2026, with red dots marking 56 one-day drops of 4% or more. Three come before 1980, and most cluster around 1987, 2008 and 2020.
S&P 500 on a log scale since 1951, with the 56 one-day drops of 4% or more before November 5, 2026 marked. Bespoke Investment Group.

But what each of those drops has in common is that, looking back, every single one of them was a buying opportunity.

I suspect we'll look back on Thursday's drop in exactly the same way, given a little bit of time.