Visualizing 200 years of U.S. stock market history

[james.hendrickson]

Here is a fun chart from PBS. Its 200 years of stock market history.

In 1850 I would be hard to convince anyone that railroad stocks weren't the way to go. Back then governments were offering subsidies and grants to stimulate growth. During the 1860s - 1870s some huge amount of new track was laid, something like 33,000 new miles of track. But, investors who held only railroad stocks would have missed out on later opportunities.

So, while some of the historical trends in the chart are obvious it does illustrate the unpredictability of markets in general.

[Captain Save]

It's great that it's more evenly spread now... one sector is less likely to pull the whole market down.

[Jluke]

It's great that it's more evenly spread now... one sector is less likely to pull the whole market down.

Really? Didn’t Apple and FAANG help to contribute towards a drop in the market in December 2018?

[Captain Save]

Really? Didn’t Apple and FAANG help to contribute towards a drop in the market in December 2018?

nothing happens in a vacuum... but imagine if Apple was a "transport" company in the 1800's ... it would not but just a drop in the market.

[greenskeeper]

Really? Didn’t Apple and FAANG help to contribute towards a drop in the market in December 2018?

Democrats took control of the house

[disneysteve]

Stocks typically drop in December and typically rise in January, which is exactly what happened the past 2 months. Perhaps to a more extreme extent than usual, but still not an uncommon occurrence.

From Investopedia: The January effect is a seasonal increase in stock prices during the month of January. Analysts generally attribute this rally to an increase in buying, which follows the drop in price that typically happens in December when investors, engaging in tax-loss harvesting to offset realized capital gains, prompt a sell-off.