September, 1947. World War II is over and wartime spending plunges, worrying economists that we'd plunge back into the Great Depression. The Council of Economic Advisers sends President Truman a report warning of "a full-scale depression some time in next one to four years." A recession begins two months later.
The stock market more than doubles over the next four years.
The S&P 500 rose more than 100-fold from 1950 to today, adjusted for inflation. But at every step of the way there have been smart-sounding temptations to sell never look back.
I compiled a few:
(Click image to enlarge).
The takeaway isn't that the market is safe. It's that bad news almost never supersedes the power of true patience.
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