European Debt Crisis
April 2011 – September 2011
Duration: 6 monthsS&P 500 DRAWDOWN
−19%
peak to trough
What Happened
TRIGGER
Greek sovereign debt default fears, contagion to Italy and Spain, US credit downgrade
A cascading sovereign debt crisis threatened to break apart the Eurozone. Greece teetered on the edge of default, bond yields in Italy and Spain surged past sustainable levels, and S&P downgraded US sovereign credit for the first time in history. The ECB eventually intervened with massive bond purchases, but not before global equities suffered a sharp correction.
Key Facts
- 01Greek 10-year bond yields exceeded 35% as default looked inevitable
- 02S&P downgraded US sovereign credit from AAA to AA+ on August 5, 2011
- 03Italian and Spanish 10-year yields surged past 7% danger threshold
- 04ECB launched Securities Markets Programme to buy peripheral bonds
- 05The S&P 500 fell 19.4% from April to October intraday low
Worst Performers
top 5 biggest losersBest Performers
top 5 most resilientSector Breakdown
HARDEST HIT SECTORS
MOST RESILIENT SECTORS
Recovery Timeline
5 months to recover prior highs
Time from trough to prior all-time high
PORTFOLIO STRESS TEST
How would YOUR portfolio have performed?
See exactly how much your current holdings would have lost during the 2011 EU Debt — and 17 other crisis scenarios including geopolitical shocks and black swans.
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Historical data is educational only. Not financial advice. Past crisis returns do not predict future performance.