Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Look at the Equities Market During the 2000s

By Ryan Hanks

To say that the equities markets have been erratic during the last ten years is somewhat of an understatement. There's never been volatility like this in both directions during such a short span.

Just ten years ago, things were better than they had ever been in the stock market. Just about everything was at an all time high, and things showed no signs of slowing down. People were buying things blindly, despite the fact that P/E ratios were significantly higher than they had ever been.

It seemed like everyone was making a fortune in the stock market. Even taxi drivers were talking about their latest buys, and the mania had gone mainstream like it never had before. People were making more money in a few months' time than they'd typically make over a matter of years.

Unfortunately, reality hit soon after, and it hit main street pretty hard. The markets retreated from their all-time highs within a matter of months. Things plummeted as the reality of the tech bubble set in.

To think that the indexes were as high as they were seems ludicrous in hindsight. Within the span of a few months, the markets had corrected by over 20%. Late 2001 was even worse, as the events of September 11th brought about new financial worries.

Things slowly rebounded during the next few years, until the Dow Jones industrial average rallied to an all-time high in 2006, breaking 14,000 at one point. Many feared another bubble that was bound to correct itself.

Not only were the equities markets thriving, but fortunes were being made through foreign exchange currency trading and commodities trading. Even vehicles like ETFs began to spring up and attracted heavy investment money.

Once again, the doom kicked back in and the markets hit their lowest points since the 1990s. Things have since rebounded a bit, but it makes you wonder where we might be headed next. Something tells me that wherever we go, it'll be a wild ride - 22871

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