The stock market’s S&P 500 losses are getting real: Real large. Every American lost, on average, $22,313 apiece from the ongoing coronavirus stock total market correction in just two weeks.
That’s based on the $7.3 trillion in value wiped from the total stock market since the Feb. 19, 2020 high (which includes small and mid-sized companie), says Wilshire Associates. Just based on the S&P 500, the 327.2 million Americans lost $6.67 trillion from the high, or $20,385 each person on average.
That’s not an inconsequential sum. It’s equivalent to roughly a quarter of the median U.S. annual household income, gone, in just two weeks of selling. And the selling can continue. Dividends could drop off, too.
“Where we go from here is anybody’s guess,” said Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group.
Real-time quote and/or trade prices are not sourced from all markets.
Who’s Taking The Biggest S&P 500 Losses?
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall” certainly applies to this market decline. The top stocks with the heaviest weightings in SPY stock are shredding the most market value. That includes the U.S.’ dominant tech-related stocks, the pushed the bull market.
The 18% drop in Microsoft (MSFT) stock, alone, erased $257.2 billion in wealth since the market top. That’s followed by the $212 billion market value destruction at Apple (AAPL) and $173.9 billion subtracted from Amazon (AMZN). Apple is down 15% from the high and Amazon is off 16%.
Microsoft and Apple are still worth more than $1 trillion. But both Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) are now worth less than a trillion. Together, the top five S&P 500 losers are responsible for a trillion in lost market value.
If there’s a poster child of losses it’s Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. Bezos owns nearly 56 million shares of Amazon, or 11.2% of the shares outstanding. With shares down 16% from the high, he personally lost $19.4 billion. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is only down $3.5 billion, as he’s no longer a top-five owner of that stock. And Alphabet founder Sergey Brin is down $12 billion.
Who’s The Biggest Owner Of Falling S&P 500 Stocks?
But given the rise of index investing, it’s also not surprising to see Vanguard taking its lumps, too. Vanguard is the largest mutual fund company, and therefore has the largest positions in the biggest stocks.
Vanguard, for instance, own 8.2% of Microsoft. The value of its 623 million shares in the company has dropped by $21.1 billion the past two weeks alone. Vanguard is also the largest owner of Apple, too, at 7.5%. It’s down nearly $16 billion in that stock.
Looks like being large comes at a cost.
