The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 34% in 2008  -- its worst year since 1931. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index finished down 38% for 2008 - - its worst year since 1937. Ireland's ISEQ fell 66% - - the worst performance since the Irish Stock Exchange was founded in 1793.

The Dow's worst year ever was 1931, when the average tumbled 53%. In 1932, the Dow fell by 23% and the blue-chip measure rebounded by 67% 1933. Franklin D. Roosevelt became president on March 4, 2003. The Dow, which dates from 1896, and today tracks 30 stocks, had its second-worst year in 1907, when it declined 38%. The year after that, it rebounded by 46%.

Dow Jones Milestones

The Irish Stock Exchange ISEQ Index, which is of more recent vintage than the Dow and tracks all equity issues on the market, fell 66.2% in 2008 - - believed to be the worst year for the Dublin market, since 1793.

In 2007, the Irish stock market lost €26 billion in a value and closed down 26% at 6,934, compared with its record close of 10,041 reached in February 2007. The index was the second worst performing exchange out of 90 measured by Bloomberg News.

In 2008, the Dublin market lost €61 billion in the value, with the ISEQ closing at 2,343.27, with more than €33.23 billion was erased from the value of financial stocks. Other shares lost €27.23 billion of their value. In 2007, ISEQ financial index lost  €19.2 billion.

Anglo Irish Bank tumbled 98.4% in 2008; Bank of Ireland plunged 91.4% and AIB lost 88.2%, while Irish Life Permanent dived 85.5%.

CRH, which accounts for about 33% of Dublin market's value, dipped 22.9% in 2008. More than 80% of CRH's shares are held by non-Irish residents.

Besides New York, the following were the losses for other significant markets: London - down 31.3%; Paris - down 42.7%; Frankfurt - down 40.4%; Mumbai - down 51.9%; Singapore - down 49.2%; Sydney - down 41.3%; Hong Kong - down 48.3%; Shanghai - down 65.2% and Tokyo - down 42.1%.

Only three of 89 major indexes tracked by Bloomberg posted gains in 2008, as equities lost $30 trillion in value. Ghana’s All-Share Index was the best performer, surging 60%. An offshore oil discovery involving Irish company Tullow Oil and government spending on roads and other projects boosted stocks in one of Africa's most stable countries.