ROSENBERG: I've Been Through A Lot Of Crises, But Nothing Was Like October 19, 1987
It was sheer panic on Wall Street.
David Rosenberg, now chief strategist at Gluskin Sheff, told Barry Ritholtz on his Masters in Business radio program back in September that "Black Monday" is the scariest thing he's seen in his time on Wall Street.
"I've been through the savings & loan crisis, I've been through what happened in 1994, the tech wreck, I was there on Wall Street between New Century Financial, and Bear Stearns, and Lehman, and AIG, but I'll tell you something: the palpable fear, there was nothing like October 19, 1987," Rosenberg said.
"People actually thought that the world was going to come to an end."
Black Monday also happened to be Rosenberg's first day on Wall Street.
On that Monday, Rosenberg joined the Bank of Nova Scotia as an economist after working for the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation, which Rosenberg said is like the Canadian equivalent of Fannie Mae.
"It was my first day on the trading floor, and it was pure pandemonium," Rosenberg said. "If somebody had offered me a ticket back to my cushy civil servant job in Ottawa, I probably would've taken it."
"So many things happened at around that time that shaped my thinking at a whole range of levels."
Amid this panic, Rosenberg remembers the economists who brought him on to work at Bank of Nova Scotia going around to every part of the bank - including the CEO's office - and remaining totally calm.
This past Wednesday amid choppy trade and historic volatility in the bond market, we highlighted comments from Rosenberg who reminded investors to take a deep breath and remember what is important for building wealth.