[CanadianCapitalist]

Given that, it seems to me that a 200 point or 600 point drop in an index is virtually meaningless and what's more important is the relative percentage changes we see.

Absolutely. The DJIA fell 508 points on Black Monday. It was a 22% drop back from its previous day close of 2246. Today, a 500 point drop would work out to only a 5% fall.

Typically, the media does mention something along the lines of "The TSX Index was up 55 points to 11,200" or something to that effect. Without the starting or ending value, the change in points is meaningless for any index.