Why is ‘Black Monday’ trending on X? Expert warns Trump tariffs could trigger ‘bloodbath’ in global market since 1987

Speaking during his show Mad Money on CNBC on April 2, Cramer cautioned that markets could experience a carnage akin to that what occurred in 1987, when the Dow Jones experienced its largest single-day drop to date, when hosting his show Mad Money on CNBC on Saturday.

The veteran market commentator asserted that the situation would get worse if Trump didn’t “reach out” to countries that haven’t placed retaliatory tariffs and give them incentives for complying.

“If the president doesn’t try to reach out and reward these countries and companies that play by the rules, then the 1987 scenario… the one where we went down three days and then down 22% on Monday, has the most cogency,” he said. “We will not have to wait too long to know. We will know it by Monday.” He commented days ahead of April 7 market movement.

US market indexes see decline after Trump tariff

US market indexes plummeted on Thursday and Friday after Trump declared a 10% “baseline” tariff on imports from all countries. The S&P 500 ended the week in the red, dropping 6% in response to China’s imposition of counter-tariffs on the US. This was the most negative weekly performance since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

The Dow Jones and Nasdaq, two other US indices, fell 5.5% and 5.8%, respectively. The Dow Jones plummeted 2,231 points on Friday after losing 1,679 points on Thursday. It was the worst two-day decline since March 2020.

The carnage was not restricted to American markets; it was also evident in Europe, Asia, and even India.

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Jim Cramer weighs in on US recession

However, Cramer stated that the US is avoiding a recession due to robust job numbers. “It makes it less likely a crash will necessarily lead to a recession,” he stated.

“I will contain my anger, but only because I lived through ‘87 and in the end, I came out okay. I was in cash for the crash. I know what this feels like,” he continued.

From the dot-com boom in 2000 to the worldwide recession in 2007, Cramer has already made a number of predictions at significant points in the world economy.

However, his forecasts have failed in the past. Cramer came under fire during the 2007–2008 financial crisis for suggesting that people invest in Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, and Lehman Brothers before to their stock crashes and closures.

Earlier, Cramer warned of a possible stock market meltdown soon after Trump announced a base 10% duty on all imports in addition to more harsh country-specific levies, such as 26% on India and 34% on China. Taking to X, he wrote: “It’s tough to build a new, weaker, world order on the fly. Frantically trying to do it but don’t see anything yet that takes the October 87 scenario off the table yet. Those who bottom-fished are sleeping with the fishes… so far.”

In another post, he even recalled the Black Monday of 1987 experience: “Look i don’t want a repeat of ’87 of course. But i traded during that period and remember each day well.. We knew to sell.. and we are proud we did. But we felt like idiots because the week BEFORE the crash was so bad and we were late to sell.”

What we know about 1987 Black Monday stock market crash

Cramer’s “Black Monday” prediction has gone viral on social media, with people expressing concerns and their opinion around his prediction. As Black Monday is also trending on X, it is impossible to avoid going back in time and revisiting the unanticipated October 1987 stock market meltdown. When the historic worldwide financial crisis broke out on October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), a stock price index calculated by Dow Jones & Co., fell 22.6% in a single trading session. FederalHistoryReserve.org describes it as “a loss that remains the largest one-day stock market decline in history.”

The stock market’s disastrous one-day percentage decline created a domino effect that caused the disaster to continue globally. The catastrophe began in Hong Kong and proceeded to Asia and Europe before arriving in the US, according to the Corporate Finance Institute.