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It wasn't so much the overall value as it was the sheer volatility that made the great wall street crash in 1929 so bad according to the history books we read - nobody could trust anything so stuff couldn't retain value.
Just, y'know, apropos of nothing much. Other than Reuters' reports and what the market does 
@markdennehy if the shares are being sold off, who's buying them?
@PatrickOBeirne The price falling does not mean the shares are selling; kindof the other way round.
There are people who'll look to buy at the bottom but those people already have millions or more to do that with. And they're betting on where the bottom is; and I refer you to any study ever done into random number generators versus human traders for an evaluation of that plan.
@markdennehy so the index is based on prices *offered*, not necessarily sold? Isn't there an index that measures volume as well?
@PatrickOBeirne Yup, ADTV (average daily trading volume).
Y'know, there are books on this stuff if you are looking for tutorials.
@markdennehy
So if there was a trading volume some people must have been buying? Maybe ready for the speculative spike for a quick return?
This might be an idea for an Irish Times explainer column.
@PatrickOBeirne Sure, buying stocks with your pension fund, hoping for a bounceback.
The reason recessions are bad, is that bounceback doesn't come, and you wind up eating dog food in retirement. It's not *just* the immediate fallout.