Market sell-offs are a regular cost of owning stocks, not a sign that long-term investing has failed: since January 1975 the S&P 500 (SPX) has fallen 10% or more from a closing high 20 times, and it regained its prior peak after every one of them [1]. In 2026 so far, the deepest decline was 9.1%, from 6,978.60 on January 27 to 6,343.72 on March 30, and the index closed at a new record by April 15 [1].
This updated version adds a full drawdown table built from Cboe's daily index history, the three sell-offs of 2026 with dates and sizes, and what they show about the cost of staying invested. All index figures are closing prices without dividends, so actual investor recoveries with dividends reinvested were somewhat faster.
How often do market sell-offs happen?
Declines are frequent. Counting from closing highs, the S&P 500 recorded 20 declines of 10% or more between January 1975 and September 2026 [1]. Six of them reached the 20% bear market line on a closing basis: 1980 to 1982, 1987, 2000 to 2002, 2007 to 2009, 2020 and 2022. Five more stopped just short, at 18.9% to 19.9%, in 1976 to 1978, 1990, 1998, 2018 and 2025 [1]. On average, that is a correction about every two and a half years.
Historical drawdowns and recovery times
The table lists the largest declines of the past five decades and how long the index took to close at a new high. Recovery time is measured from the prior peak, which is the relevant clock for an investor who bought at the top [1].
| Episode | Peak close | Trough close | Decline | New closing high | Months from trough to new high | Months from peak to new high |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 to 1982 | Nov. 28, 1980 | Aug. 12, 1982 | 27.1% | Nov. 3, 1982 | 3 | 23 |
| 1987 crash | Aug. 25, 1987 | Dec. 4, 1987 | 33.5% | July 26, 1989 | 20 | 23 |
| Dot-com bust | Mar. 24, 2000 | Oct. 9, 2002 | 49.1% | May 30, 2007 | 56 | 86 |
| Financial crisis | Oct. 9, 2007 | Mar. 9, 2009 | 56.8% | Mar. 28, 2013 | 49 | 66 |
| Late 2018 | Sept. 20, 2018 | Dec. 24, 2018 | 19.8% | Apr. 23, 2019 | 4 | 7 |
| 2020 pandemic sell-off | Feb. 19, 2020 | Mar. 23, 2020 | 33.9% | Aug. 18, 2020 | 5 | 6 |
| 2022 rate-hike bear market | Jan. 3, 2022 | Oct. 12, 2022 | 25.4% | Jan. 19, 2024 | 15 | 25 |
| 2025 tariff sell-off | Feb. 19, 2025 | Apr. 8, 2025 | 18.9% | June 27, 2025 | 3 | 4 |
The pattern is uneven. Sharp declines driven by a sudden shock, such as 2020 and 2025, recovered within months. Declines that began from high valuations, such as 2000, or that involved damage to the financial system, such as 2007, took five to seven years on a price basis [1]. This is why valuation at the time of purchase matters as much as the size of the drop.
The 2026 sell-offs so far: dates and sizes
The S&P 500 closed 2025 at 6,845.50 and stood at 7,743.41 on September 25, 2026, a price gain of 13.1% for the year despite three separate pullbacks [1]:
| 2026 pullback | Peak close | Trough close | Decline | Recovered to a new high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter oil shock | Jan. 27: 6,978.60 | Mar. 30: 6,343.72 | 9.1% | Apr. 15 |
| June rate scare | June 2: 7,609.78 | June 10: 7,266.99 | 4.5% | Aug. 4 |
| Late summer yield rise | Aug. 13: 7,798.99 | Sept. 16: 7,551.81 | 3.2% | Not yet (0.7% below the record on Sept. 25) |
What drove each decline
- January to March: supply disruptions in the Middle East pushed energy prices higher. U.S. crude rose 3.3% to $102.88 a barrel on March 30, the day of the trough, as investors weighed the inflation risk from sustained high energy costs [2].
- June: on June 5 the S&P 500 fell 2.6% to 7,383.74, its worst day since October, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 4.2%, after a report showed employers added 172,000 jobs in May, a figure that reduced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts [3]. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.55%, up from 4.47% a day earlier [4].
- August to September: the pullback from the August 13 record coincided with a rise in the 10-year Treasury yield from 4.63% to 5.01% on September 16; the yield reached 5.17% on September 25 [4].
None of the three became a 10% correction on a closing basis. Investors can track the index, sector moves and market news on DataPorium's stock market dashboard [5].
Why staying invested has paid for long-term investors
The long-run result absorbs the declines. The S&P 500 rose from 70.23 on January 2, 1975 to 7,743.41 on September 25, 2026, a price gain of about 110 times, or roughly 9.5% a year before dividends [1]. Even an investor who bought at the October 2007 peak of 1,565.15, just before a 56.8% fall, was up about 395% on price by September 2026, close to 8.8% a year [1].
Three principles follow from the data. First, diversification across a broad index removes the risk that a single company never recovers, which the index figures above do not show. Second, valuation matters: the longest recoveries started from the most expensive markets. Third, a cash reserve for near-term spending lets an investor avoid selling at a trough. The fair counterpoint is that past recoveries do not guarantee future ones, and some national markets have taken decades to regain their peaks. This is general information, not personal investment advice.
Drawdowns of 10% or more have arrived about every two and a half years since 1975, and the S&P 500 has recovered from every one of them, although recoveries from expensive peaks took five to seven years.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the stock market take to recover from a crash?
Since 1975, S&P 500 recoveries from peak to new closing high have ranged from about 4 months (2025) to about 86 months (2000 to 2007) on a price basis [1]. The median bear market took roughly two years.
How many times has the S&P 500 dropped 10% or more?
Based on Cboe closing prices, the S&P 500 had 20 declines of 10% or more from a closing high between January 1975 and September 2026, including six of 20% or more [1].
How big was the stock market sell-off in 2026?
The largest 2026 decline was 9.1%, from 6,978.60 on January 27 to 6,343.72 on March 30, followed by pullbacks of 4.5% in June and 3.2% from August 13 to September 16 [1].
Should long-term investors sell during a market sell-off?
History shows that broad U.S. stock indexes have recovered from every decline since 1975, so selling at a trough has often locked in losses [1]. The right response depends on each investor's time horizon and cash needs, and this is not personal advice.
Sources & References
- [1] Cboe: S&P 500 Index (SPX) daily closing price history, 1975 to 2026
- [2] Fortune: S&P 500 set for another loss as oil keeps climbing (March 30, 2026)
- [3] Fortune: Markets have worst day since October as tech stocks lead the way down (June 5, 2026)
- [4] U.S. Treasury: Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates, 2026
- [5] DataPorium Stock Market Dashboard
