In order to gather some perspective on the current stock market rally, Chart of the Day highlighted the duration (calendar days) and magnitude (percentage gain) of all significant Dow rallies that occurred during the 1929-1932 bear market (solid blue dots). By means of illustration, the bear market rally that began in October 1931 lasted 35 calendar days and resulted in a gain of 35%. “… the current Dow rally (hollow blue dot labeled ‘You are here’) is slightly below average in both duration and magnitude relative to the average 1929-1932 bear market rally (hollow red dot),” said Chart of the Day.

Source: Chart of the Day, May 1, 2009.