Friday, December 18, 2009

A Tough Decade for NASDAQ


As the first decade of the new millennium rapidly comes to a close, today's chart takes a look back at the decade that was. Today's chart begins shortly after the stock market as well as the nation was partying like it's 1999 (i.e. dot-com boom). The proverbial punch bowl was taken away early in 2000 and the Nasdaq suffered its 2 1/2 year dot-com bust. The market eventually bottomed and began a five-year rally thanks in part some infamous financial innovations (i.e. Ninja loans -- No Income, No Job, and no Assets). Then as it became apparent that those financial innovations weren't quite as innovative as first hoped, the system went into near meltdown. Over the past nine months, the Nasdaq has been rallying (albeit at a pace that is slowing over time) and is currently testing resistance. All in all, a tough decade.