Boston Marathon Bombing — April 15, 2013
Domestic terror and the post-9/11 recovery pattern
Two pressure-cooker bombs killed 3 and injured 264 near the marathon finish line. The S&P 500 fell 2.3% that day — though weak China GDP data and a commodities rout were already driving losses before the 2:49 p.m. blasts. The VIX spiked 43% intraday. Markets reversed the entire decline within one week.
What history says
Editorial commentary written by ALAN analysts. Figures cited below are analyst-authored context — they are not derived from the chart above and may reflect different windows or sources.
Markets were already down sharply on disappointing Chinese GDP and a 9% gold crash. The bombing struck late in the session.
The VIX, which spiked 43%, fell 15% the very next session. Within five trading days the index had recouped the entire drawdown.
The bombing had no impact on corporate earnings, monetary policy, or credit conditions.
The sober process point from April 2013 is attribution: much of that day's decline was already underway on macro data before the attack, and the entire move reversed within a week. Before acting on any violent headline, separate what the market was doing for fundamental reasons from what the tragedy added — the difference is usually the part that mean-reverts fastest.