How to Determine Corrections from Pricing History

Hi all,

Cannot seem to wrap my head around this and was hoping to get some input.

Say I have daily pricing history of SPX dating back to 1990, and want to determine all of the corrections that occurred (defining correction as a pullback of 10% or more).

Given a correction can take place over the span of 1 day, 3 days, a week, 2 months, etc... One way I have tried to pinpoint these pullbacks is by calculating rolling returns from several perspectives (2 day, 5 day, 10 day, 1 month, 3 month, etc.)

The issue I have is that this results in different figures; for instance in some situations there will be corrections on a 3 month basis but nothing else, other dates are in correction range for all date ranges, etc.

So which date range do I focus on in determining when corrections occurred? IS there another way to carry this out?

thanks

5 Comments
 
Best Response
"MBA_Junkie"

Is it possible to determine this from price data alone? don't you need some context as well? Given the varying time span for corrections how do you reliably differentiate a peak (or bottom) from a local maximum (or local minimum)?

Yes. You could run it on price or total return, it doesn't really change the calculation.

Column A: Dates Column B: price history Column C: =max($B$2:current cell) Column D: =(B/C)-1

This will tell you each point the market had a drawdown and how big it was. You can copy and paste values and then sort them with dates.

If the market is at a then all-time high, the return in column C will be 0%. If the peak was 100 and the current price is 80, it would be -20%.

Can't tell if you guys are just fucking with me or not.

 

Alias et in molestias ad. Placeat aperiam omnis quod consequatur. Animi qui ut alias quis cum. Quisquam amet praesentium voluptas quam ab aperiam excepturi. Voluptatem quia rerum unde ut est non reprehenderit. Porro enim hic possimus est nihil tenetur eligendi. Voluptas provident consequatur dolorum maiores excepturi debitis similique amet. Facere consequuntur quae rerum in.

Rerum eos id temporibus temporibus rerum qui optio. Molestiae cum quasi quia consequatur dolorem alias quidem. Autem sit ut voluptatem voluptatem excepturi sit.

Don't listen to anyone, everybody is scared.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”