The Dow is currently on pace to have its second biggest decline on the day after Thanksgiving since it became an official federal holiday in 1941.  As shown below, the biggest decline on the day after Thanksgiving came in 1987 when the index fell 1.87%.  At that point, markets were still digesting the October '87 crash, and the Dow went on to fall 8.76% in the week after Thanksgiving. 

The Dow has normally been strong on the day after Thanksgiving, with an average gain of 0.30% on the day.  With international markets dropping significantly while we ate turkey yesterday, however, today turned out to be anything but normal.

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