The AI sell-off compared to well-known stock market crashes

6 Nov 2026 The AI sell-off compared to well-known stock market crashes The S&P 500 is 6% below its record, a small fall next to past crashes: since 1928, only 16 of 56 drops that reached 6% went past 15%. Tech took more of the hit. The Nasdaq is 11% down and US chip stocks 36%, as deep as their Covid fall. How long a recovery takes varies just as much: after dot-com, the S&P 500 was back at its record in 7 years, chip stocks in 18. The S&P 500 at the close on 6 Nov 2026 How far the S&P 500 fell below a record close Each line runs from a record high to the low that followed. Eight of the 16 falls past 15% since 1928 are shown. Daily closes to 6 Nov 2026 Chart Tabular dataTable Mild for the S&P 500, a crash for chip stocks How far each index is below its record now, against the lows of its own best-known past falls. US chip stocks (the PHLX Semiconductor index) are 36% down from their 22 Jun record, as deep as their Covid fall. Daily closes to 6 Nov 2026 Chart Tabular dataTable After dot-com, the S&P 500 took 7 years to recover, chip stocks 18 Years from each index's record close to its first close back at or above it. Prices only: with dividends reinvested, most recoveries were shorter. These are worst cases, for someone who bought at the record. Chart Tabular dataTable About the data The S&P 500 is the price index, without dividends, from daily closes on Yahoo Finance. Before March 1957 the series is its predecessor, the S&P 90. A fall runs from a record close to the next record, so the 2011 fall sits inside the 2007 to 2013 one. Its depth is the lowest close before the next record. "AI sell-off" is our name for the slide since the 6 October 2026 record. More insights