

Discover more from TKer by Sam Ro
A very long-term chart of U.S. stock prices usually going up π
An incredible track record despite 200 years of challenges π€―
As we often say here at TKer, the stock market usually goes up.
These discussions are usually accompanied by charts of the stock market going back to the 1920s.
So I was delighted to see Bank of America analysts share this chart of U.S. stock prices going all the way back to 1820s.
β[A]s this chart illustrates, in the long run, stock prices go up,β BofAβs Michael Hartnett wrote in a research note published on Monday. β$1 invested in U.S. large company stocks in 1824 was worth $16 million in Oct 2023 with dividends reinvested, a stark illustration of the power of compounding and total return.β
The further back you go, the more you run into data quality issues and other issues related to comparability. So I donβt think itβs always helpful to lengthen the X-axis for the sake of going back into ancient history.
That said, this super old data nevertheless confirms the observation that the stock market usually goes up.
-
Why does the stock market usually go up? You can read more about that here:
4 key observations about the U.S. stock market to remember π
Telling the story of how the stock market usually goes up, year 2 ππ
For more discussions with long-term charts of the stock market, check out: