Asian markets tanked today: The Nikkei -4.05%, Hang Seng -2.97% and Shanghai -2.06%. Europe fared better, with the FTSE down -0.83% and the Euro STOXX 50 down only -0.32%. Our benchmark S&P 500 opened higher and hit its 0.94% intraday high about an hour later. It then sold off in a couple of waves to its -0.52% intraday low. Some buying in the final 30 minutes lifted the index to its closing gain of 0.12%, snapping a five-day selloff. The index is now down -8.49% and -11.58% from its record close on May 21st.

The yield on the 10-year note closed the day at 2.05%, down 5 bps from the previous close.

Here is a snapshot of past five sessions.

Here is a daily chart of the index with the May 21st record close highlighted. Volume on today’s modest gain was unremarkable.

A Perspective on Drawdowns

Here’s a snapshot of selloffs since the 2009 trough.

For a longer-term perspective, here is a log-scale chart base on daily closes since the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.