By: Larry MacDonald

What a year 2008 was for equity investors. Money flowed out of stocks and into mattresses now trading on financial markets under the guise of U.S. treasury notes. Here is a roundup of the declines on world stock markets (as supplied by Adrian Mastracci, portfolio manager at Vancouver-based KCM Wealth Management).

Market Decline to Dec. 31

China – 65.8%
India – 52.1%
Hong Kong – 48.3%
France – 42.7%
Japan – 42.1%
Brazil – 40.3%
Germany – 40.4%
Nasdaq – 40.5%
S&P 500 – 38.5%
Toronto – 35.0%
Dow Jones – 33.8%
UK – 31.3%
Mexico – 21.6%