Where were you one year ago?

On this day last year, the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its worst point decline in history as it crashed 778 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each dropped about 9 percent. The drop came on the heels of the House of Representatives rejecting the first draft of the $700 billion financial rescue plan. Even after the plan passed, the market remained highly volatile, CNNMoney.com recalled today.

In the months following, the Dow had its second-, fourth- and fifth-largest point drops in history. It also had its second-biggest and third-biggest point gains ever.

According to a CNNMoney.com report, the market’s uncertainty has seemed to level out in recent months. The S&P 500, for example, experienced a 3 percent swing just 20 times this year, in comparison to 29 times between Sept. 15 and the end of 2008. Looking closer at 2009, none of the 3 percent swings happened in the third quarter, and it happened only four times in the second quarter.

It is a good sign that the market is stabilizing, and looks like what we would see at the start of a bull market, Todd Campbell, president of E.B. Capital Markets, told CNNMoney.com.

Still, economists cautioned about some economic indicators, such as the rising unemployment level and potential for commercial real estate trouble, as things to factor into planning.

The S&P 500 is up nearly 60 percent since its March low, and Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist with Edward Jones told CNNMoney.com that he expects the market to cool as it corrects itself. He said that a correction, which is defined as a 10 percent drop from a recent high in the market, would be just a pause in a bull market.