Stocks crashed in 1929, kept sinking until 1932. Back to '29 level in 1954.
"When it finally reached its record low in July 1932, the Dow Jones had fallen 89%, and it did not recover to 1929 levels until 1954."
While today isn't exactly a parallel, there is a lot of room for stocks to sink. No one is claiming this will get better before it gets worse. I can't help but think that 8500 was looking very nice as a place to cut losses and skedaddle.
Arf