Replay.FearGreedChart
Replay · 2007–2009

The 2008 Financial Crisis

Anatomy of a credit collapse.

−56.8%
S&P drawdown
517 days
Peak to bottom
1,950
HY spread peak (bps)
18 months
NBER recession
ReconstructedThe Fear & Greed values shown are reconstructed using the same five-component model as the live FearGreedChart index, applied to historical market data — not contemporaneous readings.

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Fear & Greed proxyreconstructed
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Drag the slider to replay how sentiment moved.
sentiment proxy & market move together

Sentiment proxy vs S&P 500

What happened

This was a credit crisis first and an equity crisis second. High-yield spreads began widening in early 2007 — months before the equity peak — as subprime cracked. When Lehman failed in September 2008, spreads blew past 1,900 bps and the sentiment proxy hit its floor. The signal that led everything was credit, not price.

The phases

How today compares

This crash's peak vs right now

"Then" = readings at this crash's market peak. "Now" = live from the Recession Conditions Index.

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