Black Monday: As markets crash netizens cope — from ‘Orange Monday’ memes mocking Trump, to economy jokes. Check here

Black Monday: United States President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on most imports into the country, have hit global markets hard. In what is being dubbed as “Black Monday 2.0”, stock markets and cryptocurrencies crashed spectacularly. But social media users are using their best tool to cope — memes.

What is Black Monday?

Last week, Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on 180 countries, intensifying the global stock market rout. US markets bore the brunt of the sell-off, as fears mounted that the higher duties could hurt the American economy more than others and potentially push the country into a recession.

So, why the fears of Black Monday 2.0? On October 19, 1987, markets across the world crashed, with the US Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 22.6 per cent — its largest one-day percentage loss in history. This event triggered a global stock market downturn, cementing Black Monday as one of the most infamous days in financial history. The S&P 500 experienced an even steeper decline, falling by 30 per cent on the same day.

The mayhem continued throughout the month, and by early November 1987, most major stock market indexes had lost over 20% of their value.

Why Fears of Black Monday 2.0?

More in the present, American TV personality and market analyst, Jim Cramer, on April 6 warned that a similar ‘bloodbath’ awaits on April 7, Monday. He blamed Donald Trump's tariff tantrums for spooking global markets and encouraged the POTUS to “reach out” and take steps to avoid significant damage.

Overall experts warned of Black Monday 2.0 after the US stock markets witnessed their worst trading session and the largest drop since the COVID-19 global pandemic, on Friday, April 4. Over $5 trillion was wiped off market capitalisation, and the key benchmark indices bore severe losses.

On April 6, Sunday, Dow Jones futures dropped 1,405 points (3.7%) signalling a potential ‘Black Monday’. S&P 500 futures fell 4.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures tumbled 5.4% as investors sold off former tech stars to raise cash.

Notably, all Asian markets already opened in the red on April 7. The London Stock Exchange looks poised for a similar path and fear looms that the US indices will follow suit.

Amid all this, enjoy the doomsday memes: