# Daily Reaction of the \[Dow Jones Average\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daily-reaction-of-the-dow-jones-average/645663>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 31, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daily-reaction-of-the-dow-jones-average/645663 "2012-12-31T14:06:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daily-reaction-of-the-dow-jones-average/645663/1 "2012-12-31T14:06:42Z")

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Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average more reactive to daily news events than in the past?

I know a lot is going on now with the ‘fiscal cliff’, with +/- 1% swings, even intraday, as comments come out of Washington.

But such volatility seems more pronounced than in the past. Sometimes it seems like “Stocks were off sharply on news that the sun will rise in the east.”

Is there any historic data available on the average daily variation (percentage) now vs times past?

In short, is the Stock Market more jumpy than it used to be?

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daily-reaction-of-the-dow-jones-average/645663/2 "2012-12-31T14:29:07Z")

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[A whole page of links to every volatility chart you can think of](http://schwert.ssb.rochester.edu/volatility.htm).

Short answer, no.

That is, in percentage terms, no. However, the absolute changes tend to be much larger now because the Dow is higher. In the 1930s a 1% change would be 1. Today a 1% change is 130. That’s psychologically much more noticeable, as in [this chart](http://schwert.ssb.rochester.edu/djchg.pdf). The [percentage volatility chart](http://schwert.ssb.rochester.edu/djvol.pdf) tells a very different story.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daily-reaction-of-the-dow-jones-average/645663/3 "2012-12-31T14:36:00Z")

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Thread title edited for clarity.

Colibri  
General Questions Moderator

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**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daily-reaction-of-the-dow-jones-average/645663/4 "2012-12-31T14:36:48Z")

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That’s what I was looking for. Thanks.