It took just 86 trading days for the Nasdaq 100 to shake off its latest 23% slide and punch out a new all-time high yesterday.
Here’s the chart:
Let's break down what the chart shows:
The black line in the top panel shows the Nasdaq 100 with each all-time high marked by the blue step line.
The red line in the bottom panel tracks drawdowns from all-time highs.
The Takeaway: Since 1990, the Nasdaq 100 has experienced seven major drawdowns where it fell more than 20% from its highs. The latest drop — a 23% slide from February to April — now ranks as the third-fastest recovery on record.
Only two rebounds were quicker: the Covid crash in 2020, which took just 75 trading days to reclaim its highs, and the 1998 correction, which took 80.
This one took 86.
That puts the 2025 recovery well ahead of the 2018 selloff, the early-90s recession, and the 2021–23 decline.
And it’s in another league entirely from the post-2000 collapse, which took nearly 4,000 trading sessions and over 15 years to make new highs.
When a market snaps back this quickly, it tells you something about the underlying strength.
Sellers exhausted fast.
Buyers stayed engaged.
And leadership didn’t just survive — it accelerated.
These kinds of recoveries don’t usually stall at the prior highs.
They often carry further as sidelined capital is forced back in.
Price is now in discovery mode.
So, with new highs in hand, will this become a melt-up or a trapdoor?
Grant Hawkridge | Chief Aussie Operator, All Star Charts
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