Many people believe things about stocks and the stock market that simply aren’t true. For example, some people believe that the biggest, most expensive companies in America must also have the best, safest stocks.
As it turns out, however, if you’d bought the biggest and “best” stocks near the top of the market, you’d have fared pretty badly, even after 10 years:
| 3/1/2000 | 3/1/2001 | 1 Year Change | 3/1/2002 | 2 Year Change | 3/1/2005 | 5 Year Change | 3/1/2010 | 10 Year Change | |
| MSFT | $45.49 | $29.68 | -35% | $30.69 | -33% | $25.28 | -44% | $29.02 | -36% |
| CSCO | $66.50 | $24.50 | -63% | $14.85 | -78% | $17.50 | -74% | $24.60 | -63% |
| GE | $43.79 | $45.91 | 5% | $39.45 | -10% | $35.22 | -20% | $15.90 | -64% |
| INTC | $58.19 | $29.13 | -50% | $30.98 | -47% | $24.62 | -58% | $20.87 | -64% |
| ORCL | $35.75 | $21.38 | -40% | $15.99 | -55% | $13.15 | -63% | $24.74 | -31% |
| IBM | $100.44 | $106.05 | 6% | $103.02 | 3% | $93.30 | -7% | $128.57 | 28% |
| T | $42.00 | $45.50 | 8% | $39.00 | -7% | $24.32 | -42% | $25.00 | -40% |
| TXN | $82.00 | $32.40 | -60% | $31.50 | -62% | $27.15 | -67% | $24.63 | -70% |
| MRK | $56.85 | $75.48 | 33% | $59.61 | 5% | $32.13 | -43% | $37.27 | -34% |
| TWX | $170.81 | $132.00 | -23% | $77.94 | -54% | $52.77 | -69% | $29.60 | -83% |
| Average | -22% | -34% | -49% | -46% |
| 10/1/2007 | 10/1/2008 | 1 Year Change | 10/1/2009 | 2 Year Change | 10/1/2012 | 5 Year Change | 10/1/2017 | 10 Year Change | |
| XOM | $93.95 | $78.58 | -16.4% | $67.27 | -28.4% | $91.80 | -2.3% | $81.98 | -12.7% |
| GE | $42.02 | $24.50 | -41.7% | $15.97 | -62.0% | $22.81 | -45.7% | $24.18 | -42.5% |
| MSFT | $29.77 | $26.48 | -11.1% | $24.88 | -16.4% | $29.49 | -0.9% | $74.49 | 150.2% |
| T | $42.23 | $28.09 | -33.5% | $26.61 | -37.0% | $37.75 | -10.6% | $39.17 | -7.2% |
| C | $477.20 | $230.00 | -51.8% | $45.30 | -90.5% | $32.75 | -93.1% | $72.65 | -84.8% |
| BAC | $50.64 | $38.13 | -24.7% | $16.21 | -68.0% | $8.96 | -82.3% | $25.34 | -50.0% |
| PG | $70.91 | $71.27 | 0.5% | $56.62 | -20.2% | $69.45 | -2.1% | $90.98 | 28.3% |
| CSCO | $32.99 | $21.95 | -33.5% | $23.09 | -30.0% | $19.04 | -42.3% | $33.63 | 1.9% |
| CVX | $94.44 | $82.20 | -13.0% | $68.81 | -27.1% | $117.25 | 24.2% | $117.50 | 24.4% |
| JNJ | $66.14 | $67.79 | 2.5% | $59.81 | -9.6% | $69.13 | 4.5% | $130.01 | 96.6% |
| Average | -22.3% | -38.9% | -25.1% | 10.4% |
If instead you’d waited to buy until the market bottomed out, you’d have done a lot better:
| 10/9/2002 | 10/9/2003 | 1 Year Change | 10/9/2004 | 2 Year Change | 10/9/2007 | 5 Year Change | 10/9/2012 | 10 Year Change | |
| MSFT | $22.00 | $28.94 | 32% | $27.99 | 27% | $30.10 | 37% | $29.28 | 33% |
| WMT | $50.74 | $58.96 | 16% | $52.85 | 4% | $45.21 | -11% | $74.14 | 46% |
| XOM | $32.83 | $37.95 | 16% | $49.84 | 52% | $92.67 | 182% | $92.13 | 181% |
| GE | $22.00 | $30.13 | 37% | $33.74 | 53% | $42.02 | 91% | $22.62 | 3% |
| PFE | $29.25 | $30.96 | 6% | $29.80 | 2% | $25.54 | -13% | $25.31 | -13% |
| JNJ | $56.20 | $49.39 | -12% | $55.32 | -2% | $66.25 | 18% | $68.41 | 22% |
| C | $268.90 | $478.80 | 78% | $445.60 | 66% | $476.20 | 77% | $34.60 | -87% |
| KO | $25.82 | $21.97 | -15% | $20.00 | -23% | $28.94 | 12% | $38.56 | 49% |
| AIG | $881.10 | $1,019.66 | 16% | $1,120.86 | 27% | $1,174.64 | 33% | $35.45 | -96% |
| PG | $44.10 | $47.50 | 8% | $53.45 | 21% | $71.08 | 61% | $68.70 | 56% |
| Average | 18% | 23% | 49% | 19% |
| 3/6/2009 | 3/6/2010 | 1 Year Change | 3/6/2011 | 2 Year Change | 3/6/2014 | 5 Year Change | 4/6/2018 | 9 Year, 1 Month Change | |
| XOM | $64.03 | $66.47 | 4% | $85.08 | 33% | $93.76 | 46% | $74.86 | 17% |
| WMT | $48.91 | $54.14 | 11% | $52.07 | 6% | $74.88 | 53% | $86.89 | 78% |
| MSFT | $15.28 | $28.59 | 87% | $25.95 | 70% | $38.15 | 150% | $90.20 | 490% |
| PG | $45.71 | $63.69 | 39% | $62.03 | 36% | $78.06 | 71% | $78.43 | 72% |
| T | $22.58 | $24.99 | 11% | $27.92 | 24% | $32.34 | 43% | $35.85 | 59% |
| JNJ | $47.97 | $64.04 | 34% | $61.06 | 27% | $92.89 | 94% | $127.98 | 167% |
| CVX | $58.27 | $74.30 | 28% | $103.75 | 78% | $114.85 | 97% | $114.79 | 97% |
| IBM | $85.81 | $127.25 | 48% | $161.83 | 89% | $187.64 | 119% | $150.50 | 75% |
| BRK.A | $73,195 | $125,000 | 71% | $128,200 | 75% | $182,175 | 149% | $293,940 | 302% |
| GOOGL | $154.29 | $282.11 | 83% | $300.31 | 95% | $609.81 | 295% | $1,010.50 | 555% |
| Average | 41% | 53% | 112% | 191% |