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Wall Street moves past latest ‘ panic attack’

It took the Dow just five trading days to recover from its latest “panic attack,” a one- day, 373- point dive May 17 when President Trump’s political troubles were being compared to Watergate and the “I” word — impeachment — was be- ing thrown around.

The 1.8% dent it put in the Dow Jones industrial average made big news. But the panic turned out to be short- lived.

Edward Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, has been “keeping a diary” of these anxiety attacks since the bull market began in 2009. By his count, the market has suffered 56 short- term freakouts. They were non- events and were followed by rallies and highs for the market. Only four of the 56 panic attacks resulted in corrections, or drops of more than 10% but less than 20%, Yardeni says.

When asked what it will take for a panic attack to become a heart attack, he said, “It will have to be something that causes a recession.”