Historical U.S. Stock Market Returns Over Almost 200 Years

The Pyramid of Equity Returns: Almost 200 Years of U.S. Stock Performance

From 1825-2019, equities have had positive annual performance over 70% of the time. This chart shows historical U.S. stock market returns.

✒ Takeaways:

1. Equity returns roughly follow a bell curve, skewed towards positive performance;
2. The chart doesn’t take into account volatility;
3. YTD market performance falls within historical range;
4. Recessions tend to be followed by strong recoveries – the market is “psychological” as well as “cycle-logical”.