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Is Donald Trump right that the Dow Jones just had its fastest-ever 1,000-point jump?
In the wake of the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching the 25,000-point landmark, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to tout a new record.
"Dow goes from 18,589 on November 9, 2016, to 25,075 today, for a new all-time Record. Jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history. This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Six trillion dollars in value created!" he tweeted.
We wondered whether Trump was accurate that the Dow’s 1,000-point move in five weeks was a jump of record proportions.
He’s right.
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Here’s a table summarizing every time the Dow has crossed a 1,000-level threshold for the first time since its establishment as a stock-measurement statistic in 1896. The chart below only includes the first time the Dow crossed a threshold; in many cases, the market closed below that level before climbing above it permanently.
First finish above...
Date of milestone
1,000
Nov. 14, 1972
2,000
Jan. 8, 1987
3,000
April 17, 1991
4,000
Feb. 23, 1995
5,000
Nov. 21, 1995
6,000
Oct. 14, 1996
7,000
Feb. 13, 1997
8,000
July 16, 1997
9,000
Apr. 6, 1998
10,000
Mar. 29, 1999
11,000
May 3, 1999
12,000
Oct. 19, 2006
13,000
Apr. 25, 2007
14,000
July 19, 2007
15,000
May 7, 2013
16,000
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Nov. 21, 2013
17,000
July 3, 2014
18,000
Dec. 23, 2014
19,000
Nov. 22, 2016
20,000
Jan. 25, 2017
21,000
Mar. 1, 2017
22,000
Aug. 2, 2017
23,000
Oct. 18, 2017
24,000
Nov. 30, 2017
25,000
Jan. 4, 2018
The most recent climb to 25,000 is a record, after you exclude weekends and holidays and include only trading days. The climb from 24,000 to 25,000 took 24 trading days. That is one day shorter than the two previous fastest climbs of 25 trading days — from 10,000 to 11,000 under President Bill Clinton in 1999, and from 20,000 to 21,000 earlier in Trump’s own presidency.
With each 1,000-level increase, the accomplishment is a little less impressive.
A jump of 1,000 from 24,000 to 25,000 is an increase of just 4 percent in value. By comparison, jumping from 1,000 to 2,000 — which took more than 14 years — is an increase of 100 percent in value.
Our ruling
Trump said the Dow Jones Industrial Average "jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history."
He’s correct about the size of the climb and the fact that it’s the fastest in history, at least when you tally up trading days. The rise to 25,000 beat the old record by one trading day.
We rate the statement True.
Our Sources
Donald Trump, tweet, Jan. 5, 2018
Yahoo Finance, historical Dow Jones Industrial Average closings, accessed Jan. 8, 2018
MarketWatch, "Dow 21,000 matches the fastest 1,000-point march in history," March 1, 2017
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More by Louis Jacobson
Is Donald Trump right that the Dow Jones just had its fastest-ever 1,000-point jump?
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