2,352 points to close at 21,200. It was a 9.99% drop, and the sixth- worst percentage drop in history. Finally, on March 16 the Dow plummeted nearly 3,000 points to close at 20,188, losing 12.9%. The drop in stock prices was so massive that the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading several times during those days. Between Feb. 12 and March 23 of 2020, the Dow lost 37% of its value. By the middle of March, panic was rising. As the US went into lockdown mode, over 20 million jobs were lost, businesses closed down and the virus continued its spread. Investors watched as their retirement savings lost 30% in two weeks, and speculation about how bad it could get created even more fear among investors. As the world watched the coronavirus wreak havoc and feared more bad news, something happened in April. The market began to rebound. This seemed impossible and confused many as there was such a disconnect between the economy and the market. Unemployment numbers were worse every week, the economy was basically shut down and at the time, no vaccine in sight. So how did this happen? It wasn’t luck and it wasn’t random. There are a lot of people working behind the scenes to ensure our systems and infrastructure don’t fail. Congress and the Fed stepped in, interest rates were cut to near zero and a $2.3 trillion fiscal rescue package was launched, providing life support to markets, businesses, households and local governments. Cautiously optimistic, investors began to wade back into the market, quickly swimming out deeper. By August 17th, the S&P 500 was up 27% from its low, setting new records again. By November 2020, US markets finally returned to January levels with the Dow passing 30,000 for the first time in history on Nov. 24, 2020 (2021, Frazier). The Fed affects money in the economy in 3 ways. The first is through the reserve requirement they set for banks, telling them
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