Market history, explained with real data
Long reads about crashes, bubbles, inflation and famous company collapses, built on decades of price data, plus guides to playing Blindfolio and teaching with it.
Market eras
What stocks, bonds, gold and cash actually did through the big turning points since the 1960s.
The S&P 500 fell 24% in price over 2000-2009 and about 9% with dividends. Data on gold, bonds, cash, DCA and the worst 10-year windows since 1962.
The S&P 500 fell 56.8% from October 2007 to March 2009 and 38.5% in 2008 alone. A dated timeline, worst days, banks vs gold and bonds, and the recovery.
Nvidia vs Cisco, the Nasdaq-100 in 2000 vs 2026: gains, drawdowns, P/E ratios, index concentration and who pays for AI capex, side by side.
The S&P 500 went nowhere from 1966 to 1982 while prices tripled. Real returns for stocks, gold, oil, bonds and cash, plus the 1973-74 crash, in data.
The dot-com bubble in numbers: the Nasdaq fell 78% from 2000 to 2002. Which companies failed, which survived, and how many years each took to recover.
Company stories
How well-known companies rose, stumbled or disappeared, and what investors could see at the time.
Lehman Brothers stock went from $86.18 in early 2007 to $0.21 on Sept. 15, 2008. Verified price milestones, leverage, Repo 105 and creditor recoveries.
Enron stock price history from the 1990s climb to the $90.56 peak and the 2001 collapse: key dates, 401(k) losses, warning signs and the aftermath.
Guides and ideas
How the game works, whether anyone really beats the index, and the thinking traps that history exposes.
Survivorship bias examples from Wald's bombers to S&P 500 reshuffles, vanished mutual funds and bankrupt stocks, plus a checklist to spot it.
A free stock market game built on real 1962-2026 prices. Years are hidden and companies wear codenames, so you invest through history without hindsight.
A ready 45-minute stock market lesson plan: students invest through hidden years of real market history, then reveal the era and debrief.
79% of large-cap funds trailed the S&P 500 in 2025 and 93% over 20 years. SPIVA, DALBAR, Bessembinder and our test of 33 stocks from 2005 to 2026.
New articles are added every week.