U.S. Stocks end Oct. with worst performance in 21 years (Dave Carpenter and Tim Paradis)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

NEW YORK (AP) -- What is it about October and stocks?

The month that brought the 1929 crash, Black Monday in 1987 and other midautumn market crises delivered its worst monthly performance in 21 years.

And not even the best week in 34 years could keep the market from suffering another terrible October this year.

Despite another big advance on Friday, paper losses in the U.S. stock market came to $2.5 trillion for the month, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which represents nearly all stocks traded in the United States. The 17.7 percent decline was the worst since the 23 percent drop in October 1987.

The Dow Jones industrials rose 144 points on Friday, giving the market its only back-to-back gains of the month and its best week since mid-October 1974.

But it was a trick-or-treat month. Fear coursed through the markets in a way that hadn't been seen for more than two decades, causing rushed selling by everyone from middle-class investors to multibillion-dollar hedge funds.