A friend of mine sent me this graphic I hadn't seen before; it shows the annual performance of each year of the stock market. (I've had to shrink the graphic, so the years are a little tough to read, but you'll get the idea). On the extreme right are the handful of blowout bullish years, such as 1954, in which the S&P returned from 50-60%. In the middle are the vast majority of years, which yield 0-10%. And on the extreme left, there was only one year – 1931 – that had the distinction of producing a negative 40% to negative 50% return. Until now. Thus far, 2008 is now joining its buddy 1931………..amazing.
