On That Day — Archive

Verdict

Beyond Meat's IPO on May 2, 2019 captured the peak of the plant-based meat hype cycle perfectly. The 163% first-day surge was fueled by genuine excitement about disrupting the $1.4 trillion global meat industry. The stock reached $239 by late July as short squeezes amplified the rally. Then reality set in: competition from Impossible Foods, private-label alternatives from supermarkets, and persistent losses. By 2022, the stock traded below $10 — a 96% decline from its high. A textbook mania-to-despair arc.

Verdict

The downgrade of Greece to junk status on April 27, 2010 was the moment the European sovereign debt crisis became real. Up until then, the idea that a eurozone member could default was considered unthinkable. S&P's move triggered a cascade: bond yields spiked, the euro fell, contagion spread to Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy. The €110 billion bailout in May was the first of three Greek bailouts totaling over €260 billion. The crisis reshaped European politics, created the Troika, and nearly broke the euro apart.

Verdict

The Musk-Twitter saga was one of the most bizarre M&A stories in history. The $54.20 price really was a weed joke. After the board accepted on April 25, Musk spent months trying to back out, citing bot accounts. Twitter sued to enforce the deal. Musk eventually walked into Twitter HQ on October 26 carrying a kitchen sink ('let that sink in') and closed the deal the next day. The mass layoffs — closer to 50-80% depending on the count — followed within weeks.

Verdict

April 20, 2020 was perhaps the single most surreal day in commodity market history. With the world in Covid lockdown, demand had collapsed but oil kept flowing. The Cushing storage hub was at 77% capacity and filling fast. Traders holding the expiring May futures contract faced a nightmare: accept delivery of physical barrels they couldn't store, or pay someone to take them. The result was a price of negative $37.63 — you got paid to take oil. The June contract, by contrast, still traded around $20.

Verdict

The Dow crossing 13,000 in April 2007 felt like validation — the economy was growing, housing was booming, credit was flowing. Nobody at the celebration knew that Bear Stearns' hedge funds would implode three months later, or that the entire financial system would nearly collapse by late 2008. The Dow's journey from 13,000 to 6,547 remains one of the starkest examples of market hubris in history.

Verdict

S&P's April 18, 2011 warning shot was the beginning of one of the most dramatic episodes in US fiscal history. The 'negative outlook' was unprecedented for American sovereign debt and sent a clear message to Congress: resolve the debt ceiling or face a downgrade. Congress did pass the Budget Control Act on August 2 — but S&P downgraded anyway on August 5, triggering 'Black Monday' on August 8 when the Dow fell over 600 points.

Verdict

The OPEC+ deal of April 2020 was unprecedented in scale — 9.7 million barrels per day of cuts, roughly 10% of global supply. It came after Saudi Arabia had flooded the market in March to punish Russia for refusing earlier cuts. But even this historic deal couldn't prevent the most surreal moment in oil history: on April 20, WTI futures went negative at -$37.63/barrel as storage ran out and traders paid others to take delivery.

Verdict

The April 9 tariff-pause rally was as historic as the crash that preceded it. After a week of panic selling triggered by Liberation Day tariffs, Trump reversed course and announced a 90-day pause for all countries except China (which got hit with 125% tariffs instead). The S&P 500's 9.5% single-day gain was the eighth-largest in history. The Nasdaq's 12% surge was its second-best day ever.

Verdict

Roosevelt's gold confiscation order is one of the most dramatic government interventions in financial history. Signed April 3 and effective April 5, 1933, it required citizens to surrender gold holdings to the Federal Reserve at $20.67/oz. The government then revalued gold to $35/oz in January 1934, effectively devaluing the dollar by 40%. The ban lasted until 1974.

Verdict

The 'Liberation Day' crash was real and recent. On April 2, 2025, Trump announced tariffs targeting all imported goods at rates not seen in nearly a century. Markets reacted violently the next day — the S&P 500 dropped 4.84%, and the Nasdaq lost over 1,600 points. It was followed by an equally historic bounce on April 9 when a 90-day pause was announced.