Now that 2008 has finally staggered across the finish line, we can reflect on the turbulence and volatility that shook the global markets this past year.

U.S. Indices

The major U.S. indices all saw steep annual declines in 2008, recording one of the worst years on record.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out the final hours of trading at 8776.39, down 4488.43 (33.84%) for the year.  This is the largest annual percentage drop since 1931. The Dow closed 4281.81 (32.79%) off of the 2008 high of 13058.20 hit on May 2 and down 5388.14 (38.04%) from the all-time high of 14164.53 hit on October 9, 2007.  The Dow closed up 1224.10 (16.21%) up from the 2008 low of 7506.97 hit on Nov.20.

Four out of the five all-time largest daily point losses occurred in 2008, with the largest point drop in history of -777.68 (-6.98%) occurring on Sept.29. Interestingly enough, 2008 also saw four out of the five largest daily point gains, with the largest single daily point gain in history of 936.42 (11.08%) occurring on Oct. 28, 2008. As a percentage, this gain ranks fifth all-time for single-day percentage gains, while none of the 2008 single day percentage losses break the top five historically.

2008 saw some of the most dramatic intraday volatility ever on the Dow.  There were 5 daily intraday swings of over 850 points, with the largest in history, a swing of 1018.77 points, occurring on Oct.10.

Similarly, the S&P 500 took a beating this year, closing at 903.25, down 565.11 (38.49%) for the year -- which on a percentage basis, is the worst performance since 1937.  The S&P 500 closed 543.91 (37.58%) off the 2008 high of 1447.16 hit on Jan.2, and down 661.90 (42.29%) from the all-time high of 1565.15 hit on October 9, 2007.  The S&P 500 closed up 150.81 (20.04%) up from the 2008 low of 752.44 hit on Nov.20.

Like the Dow, the S&P 500 saw some of its largest daily point gains and losses last year.  Three out of five of the all-time largest daily point losses occurred in 2008 with the largest single day point drop in history of -106.59 (-9.03%) occurring on Sept.29. 2008 also saw four out of five of the largest ever single daily point gains with the largest single daily point gain in history of 104.13 (11.58%) occurring on Oct.13, 2008. On a percentage basis, this gain ranks fifth out of the all time S&P single day percentage gains.

The S&P 500 also saw some dramatic intraday swings in 2008, with five swings of over 90 points. In 2008, the largest intraday swing of 102.68 occurred on Sept. 29, 2008, and was the largest since a 109-point swing on April 4, 2000.

Not to be outdone, the NASDAQ 100 closed 2008 at 1577.03, down 1075.25 (40.54%) for the year -- which on a percentage basis is the worst performance in history. The 2008 close was down 1032.60 (39.57%) off the annual high of 2609.63 hit on Jan. 2 and down 3471.59 (68.76%) off the all-time high of 5048.62 hit on March 10, 2000.

Although none of the 2008 NASDAQ single daily point gains or losses break the top five historically, two of the single daily percentage gains in 2008 were among the top five all time.  The Oct. 13 gain of 11.81% (194.74) ranks second, and the Oct. 28 gain of 9.53% (143.57) ranks fourth all time.

The Sept. 29 drop of 9.14% (-199.61), the largest percentage drop of 2008, ranks third on the list of all-time historical NASDAQ 100 percentage drops. 

The FOX 50 index, which is indicative of American consumer behavior, closed 2008 at 1063.12, down 381.40 (35.88%) on the year. This is 432.14 (38.8%) off of its all-time high of 1113.86 hit on Oct. 31, 2007.

European Indices

The European markets did not fare any better than U.S. markets in 2008.  In London, the FTSE ended 2008 at 6456.90 with a decline of 2022.73 (31.33%) from on the year.  This was down 2045.23 (31.57%) from the 2008 annual high of 6479.40 hit on Jan.3 and 2496.03 (36.02%) off of the historical high of 6930.20 hit on Dec. 30, 1999.

 The Paris based CAC-40 index ended the year at 3217.97 down 2396.11 (42.68%), on the year. This was down 2332.39 (42.02%) off the 2008 high of 5550.36 hit on Jan. 2 and 3704.36 (53.51%) off of the historical high of 6922.33 hit on September 4, 2000.

The Frankfurt based DAX index closed 2008 at 4810.20, 3257.12 (40.37%) down for the year.  This was down 3138.91 (39.49%) from the 2008 high of 7949.11 hit on Jan. 2 and 3295.49 (40.66%) off of the historical high of 8105.69 hit on July 16, 2007.

Asian Indices

The Asian markets followed suit in 2008.  In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 saw a decline of 6448.22 (42.12%) from its 2007 closing level of 15,307.78 to end the year at 8,859.56.  This is up 1,696.66 (23.69%) off the 2008 low of 7,162.90 hit on Oct. 27 and down 5,831.85 (39.70%) from the 2008 high of 14,691.41 hit on January 4.

The Nikkei ended 2008 30,056.31 points (77.23%) off of the historical high of 38,915.87 hit on Dec. 29, 1989.

The Hong Kong based Hang Seng index saw a decline of 13,425.17 (48.27%) from its 2007 closing level of 27,812.65 to end the year at 14,387.48.  This is up 3,371.64 points (30.61%) from the 2008 low of 11,015.84 hit on Oct. 27 and down 13,228.37 points (47.90%) of the Jan. 9 annual high of 27,515.85

The Hang Seng ended 2008 17,250.74 points (54.53%) off of the historical high of 31,638.22 hit on Oct. 30, 2007.

Crude Oil

One of the biggest stories of the year was the rise and fall of crude oil.  Crude opened 2008 at $99.62 a barrel and eventually peaked at a record $145.29 on July 3 before eventually dropping $100.69 (69.30%) to end the year at $44.60, down $51.38 (53.53%) on the year. Crude did make up some of its losses in a last-minute rally, ending $10.73 (31.68%) up off its 2008 low of $33.87 hit on December 19.

Of interesting note is that the 10 largest single day Crude Oil dollar gains in Nymex history all occurred in 2008 with the largest gain ever of $16.36 (15.66%) occurring on Sept. 22.

On the flip side, nine of the 10 largest single-day crude oil dollar losses also occurred in 2008.  The largest loss of the year of -$10.52 (-9.84%) per barrel occurred on September 29 and is edged out historically only by the loss of -$10.56 (-33.00%) on January 17, 1991.

Gold

Gold, considered a safe haven in volatile markets, maintained that trend in 2008 -- although at times it did show some volatility of its own.  Gold closed at the end of 2008 at $883.60, up $48.70 (5.83%) for the year.  This is the eighth year in a row that gold has seen an annual increase in value.  However, the metal did fall $119.60 (11.92%) from its all-time high of $1003.20 hit on March 18, 2008 but ended the year $178.70 (25.35%) up from its 2008 low of $704.90 hit on November 13.

The largest single daily gain in history for gold of $70.10 (9.03%) occurred on Sept. 17, 2008, while the second largest single daily historical loss of $58.50 (5.83%) occurred on March 19.