Date: July 2012: dshort Featured Charts

Yes, the real (inflation-adjusted) version dropped us into the "Death Zone" twice since the inception of the S&P 500 in March 1957. The first plunge into the Death Zone lasted from the summer of 1974 to December of 1986. The second "Death Dip" started in August of 2010, long after the two savage declines in the index and three recessions since the first 12 1/2 year encounter with Death. That earlier trip to the zone did capture some of the decade of stagflation, but it was clearly not a money-maker for market timing. The second dip was even worse for timing the market or understanding the economy.