The Best And The Worst of 2008

2008 is an eventful year but probably a year to forget for many! Ironically, it is so eventful that perhaps it is impossible to forget!

To name a few....sub-prime financial crisis, global credit crunch, global assets crash(es) followed by the extreme volatility, oil price skyrocketing to $147/barrel followed by skydiving to below $40, inflation followed by stagflation, global recession, Obama becoming the first black American President, the collapses of well-known global powerhouses such as Lehman Brothers, financial bailouts of giants such as Citibank, China Sichuan earthquake, etc.

For Malaysia, we have the added March 08 General Election followed by the political uncertainties.

Here's how some of the major markets have performed in 2008:
Dow Jones Industrial Average -33.8%
Japan's Nikkei -42.1%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index -48.1%
Singapore's Straits Times Index -49.4%,
Malaysia's KLCI -39.3%

By the way, the dash (-) stands for minus!

Below shows the best and worst performing stock markets all around the world in 2008. Interestingly, only one stock market (Tunisia) ended in positive territory. Some you probably never even knew existed, but all were victims of the credit crisis and global recession.

Source: BBC