Great Bull Market Gasped Its Last Breath 5 Years Ago

The great bull market of the 1990s peaked five years ago today -- at least that was the end of it as measured by the nation’s best-known stock index.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 140.55 points, or 1.2%, to 11,722.98 on Jan. 14, 2000, stoked by a robust profit report from semiconductor giant Intel.

The blue-chip Dow had been an also-ran during the late-’90s market surge, trailing far behind the technology- and dot-com-heavy Nasdaq composite index. Nasdaq had soared 39.6% in 1998 and 85.6% in 1999, compared with the Dow’s gains of 16.1% and 25.2%, respectively.

But the Dow got off to a strong start as 2000 began, rising 2% in the first two weeks, while Nasdaq slipped 0.1%.

After peaking Jan. 14, however, the Dow went into a steep slide, falling 1,926 points, or 16%, to 9,796.03 by March 7. The sell-off foreshadowed the bear market that would soon have the rest of Wall Street in its grip.

Nasdaq, meanwhile, went on its final wild run in February and early March 2000. It reached its zenith on March 10, when it closed at 5,048.62 -- a 24% rise from the end of 1999.

Other broad market indexes also peaked in March or later in 2000. The bear market that followed went on for more than two years, ending in October 2002. By then, the Dow had fallen 38% from its 2000 high, and Nasdaq had plunged 78% from its high.