“Many analysts predict the economy will have contracted at a pace of 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter when the government releases that report on Friday. If they are correct, that would mark the worst performance since a 6.4 percent drop in the first quarter of 1982.”

—casey mulligan

• GDP decline peaked in 1Q1982 at -6.4%
• The market declined from January through March, staged a mini-rally in April and May, bottomed at 776.92 in August 1982, and roared back