This article is probably going to get me cancelled. Most people think that the stock market is just numbers on a screen—things go up, things go down, but they eventually balance out. But sometimes the market doesn’t correct. It collapses. And when it does, it’s fast, brutal, and permanent for those who aren’t ready. Today, I’m going to do a deep dive into the last seven market crashes that have happened in my lifetime. I’m going to discuss what I think really caused them, covering everything from financial fraud to algorithmic panic selling, war games, and the elite manipulation that happens. So, if you are a conspiracy nut like I am, it might be time to suit up.
The Crash of 1987: Black Monday
Let’s start with the single worst day in the history of Wall Street—October 19th, 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points in a single session, a loss of 22.6%. Adjusted for today’s numbers, that would be like the Dow dropping over 8,000 points in one day. So what happened? In the years leading up to 1987, the US economy was booming. Reagan’s administration cut taxes, slashed regulations, and pumped the economy with defense spending. The stock market soared, up over 40% in the first eight months of 1987 alone. A new financial innovation called portfolio insurance was being used by major institutions. These were computer algorithms designed to automatically sell futures when markets dropped, supposedly to protect against losses.
But on Black Monday, this safety net became a trap. As the market began to fall, portfolio insurance kicked in and began selling, causing prices to fall further, which triggered more selling—a vicious feedback loop, a self-fulfilling crash. And what were the investors feeling? Panic took over. Traders couldn’t react fast enough. Liquidity dried up. There were no buyers, only sellers. Phone lines to brokers were jammed. People watched in horror as their life savings vanished by lunch. There’s a theory that certain hedge funds and institutional players manipulated the crash by intentionally triggering the algorithms. The goal was to force the Fed to intervene—and it worked. On the morning of October 20th, Fed Chair Alan Greenspan released a statement: “The Federal Reserve, consistent with the responsibilities as the nation’s central bank, affirms its readiness to serve as a source of liquidity.” The markets rebounded within days. Big players who shorted the market or bought after the crash made a killing. And once again, the little guy paid the price.
The Gulf War and the 1990 Crash
Let’s talk about a crash with geopolitical roots—one that set the tone for the entire decade of the ’90s. In July 1990, the S&P 500 began to fall slowly at first, then harder. By October, it was down nearly 20%. The cause? War and oil. In early 1990, Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, was facing an economic crisis. He accused Kuwait of overproducing oil and stealing from Iraqi oil fields. Tensions rose throughout July. Then, on August 2nd, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The US and allies immediately condemned the invasion. Markets panicked. Oil prices spiked from $17 to over $40 per barrel overnight. Rising oil prices meant higher inflation. Higher inflation meant the Fed raising interest rates. Higher interest rates meant recession risk. By mid-July, the US was already in a recession, but most investors didn’t know it yet. Some historians argue that the US knew Iraq would invade—maybe even allowed it. Why? To justify military intervention in the Gulf, protect US oil interests, and secure long-term access to Middle East oil fields. Also, defense stocks surged during the run-up to war—Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman. While the S&P dropped, these companies made record gains. War-like markets have their winners.
The Dot-Com Bubble and Its Burst
Now, let’s talk about the dot-com bubble—a time when millionaires were made overnight and lost their fortunes just as fast. Between 1995 and 2000, the NASDAQ grew over 400%. By early 2000, it hit 5,048 points, a historic peak. Everyone was throwing money into tech stocks—Pets.com, eToys, WebVan, Globe.com. In March 2000, things began to unravel. The Fed, concerned about inflation, had raised interest rates six times in 18 months. And suddenly, investors asked the question they should have asked years earlier: “Wait a second, is any of this profitable?” The answer was no. Companies that had never made a dime were valued at billions. As reality set in, the NASDAQ collapsed by over 78% by 2002. The human toll? Over $8 trillion in paper wealth vanished. Over 500.com companies went bankrupt. Thousands of employees lost their jobs, homes, and their retirement. Investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley knew many of these IPOs were junk. Internal emails later revealed that they called them “dogs” and “crap,” while promoting them to retail investors. Executives sold their shares at the top. Retail investors held the bag. This wasn’t just a bubble. It was a pump and dump at scale, executed by Wall Street in broad daylight. It seems eerily similar to what’s going on right now.
The 2008 Financial Crisis: A Near-Death Experience
Then we come to 2008. It wasn’t just a crash; it was a near-death experience for the global financial system. From Wall Street to Main Street, this collapse ripped through the economy like a financial hurricane. But the scariest part? It was not entirely man-made. For years, banks had been handing out mortgages to people with no income, no assets, no documentation—so-called ninja loans. Why? Because they didn’t care if the borrower defaulted. These risky loans were bundled into mortgage-backed securities and sold as AAA-rated investments. Big banks like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and even AIG went all-in on these products. So did global pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies. Everyone wanted them, until the defaults started. In 2007, home prices started falling. By 2008, default rates exploded, especially in subprime loans. The entire financial system was leveraged to the teeth. Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008. Global panic set in. The S&P 500 fell 57% from its 2007 peak. Millions lost homes, jobs, and savings. This wasn’t a surprise. Insiders at banks and rating agencies knew the loans were garbage. They bet against them. Goldman Sachs made billions by shorting mortgage-backed securities while selling them to clients. And when it all collapsed, Wall Street got bailed out. You paid the bill. There’s a theory that the housing bubble was a financial weapon, intentionally created to: one, inflate asset prices; two, trigger a controlled crash; three, justify central bank intervention; and four, consolidate economic power. What was the result? The richest 1% emerged wealthier than ever.
The COVID-19 Crash: A Market Manipulation in Disguise
In February 2020, markets were at an all-time high. The US unemployment rate was 3.5%. The economy looked unstoppable. Then, a virus broke out in Wuhan, China. Within weeks, it was global. And in March, the market plummeted. This was the fastest crash in history. The S&P 500 dropped 34% in just 33 days. Oil prices went negative for the first time in history. The VIX hit 85. Entire industries—airlines, hotels, restaurants—completely collapsed. The reaction? Governments locked down. Businesses shut down. Millions of people lost their jobs in a matter of days. The Fed and Treasury responded by injecting $7 trillion in liquidity, zero interest rates, massive stimulus packages, corporate bailouts, direct checks to citizens for the first time. But here’s what most people missed: While the public panicked and sold their investments, insiders were buying everything. BlackRock and Vanguard expanded their holdings massively. Tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft became even more dominant. Some people believe that COVID was the perfect crisis for central planners. It allowed for mass surveillance and expansion, justified endless money printing, and gave central banks unprecedented power over free markets. And the market? It hit new highs just months later. While everyday people waited for life to return to normal, Wall Street had already moved on.
The 2021 Crypto and Meme Stock Collapse
In November 2021, Bitcoin hit $69,000. The S&P 500 was at all-time highs. Meme stocks were everywhere. NFTs were selling for millions. Retail investors felt like gods. But beneath the surface, the clock was ticking. What happened? Inflation surged past 6%. The Fed finally admitted this wasn’t transitory. Tapering began. Interest rate hikes were announced. Suddenly, the free money era ended. By the end of 2022, the NASDAQ was down 35%. Crypto had completely collapsed. The ARK Innovation Fund lost over 75%. Meme stocks like AMC and GameStop fell 80%. Retail got crushed. Many first-time investors who entered during the COVID boom lost everything. They had FOMO’d in during the top and sold in desperation at the bottom. Some say this was a targeted liquidity reset. The Fed and Wall Street allowed euphoria to inflate unsustainable bubbles. Once the retail crowd got too powerful, they pulled the plug. Robinhood, Reddit, TikTok traders—everyone got washed out. The machine reset, and the institutions got back to business as usual.
The Current Market Crisis of 2025
And now we’re living in it. In April 2025, markets are falling fast. The S&P 500 is down 30% in six weeks. The NASDAQ is collapsing again. Crypto is bleeding out. Even gold is sliding down. So what’s going on? Inflation is getting worse than ever. Everyone is feeling the cost of living increase. The Fed is raising rates into a slowing economy. AI and automation are eliminating millions of white-collar jobs. Geopolitical tensions are exploding all across the planet due to President Trump’s tariffs. The commercial real estate sector is collapsing as remote work becomes more permanent. US consumer debt is at a record high—numbers we’ve never seen before. The markets are no longer reacting to just one threat. They’re reacting to a systematic collapse of the entire financial market. But here’s where it gets interesting: There are whispers that this crash was designed to usher in a new era of control. The Federal Reserve is trying its CBDC (central bank digital currency). The US is debating a universal basic income tied to digital identity, like they have in China. Some believe this economic pain is a feature, not a bug, to justify a total restructuring of the economy. Sounds crazy? Well, in 2019, so did lockdowns and negative oil prices. The more the world digitizes, the easier it is to control. And market crashes give the perfect excuse.
Conclusion: The Engineered Reality of Market Crashes
Seven crashes, seven different causes, but one undeniable truth: The markets aren’t random. They’re not chaotic. They’re engineered by people who understand how fear, liquidity, and leverage move the world. And every crash? It’s a moment of transfer—from the emotional to the prepared, from the many to the few. So the next time someone tells you it’s just a correction, ask yourself, “Who’s buying while you’re panicking?” Because that’s where the real story is.
I know all of this is scary, and that’s always how it is when you dig beneath the surface of any large event that happens on the planet. Always, when the market is euphoric, the elite have already been laying down the groundwork for their plan. When people see no end in sight, the elite have a plan to capitalize on everything. It never changes, and I don’t think it ever will.
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