Great chart from Leuthold Group (hat tip to Big Picture Blog) showing how this bull market compares with others since 1900. Chock full of data:

Questions for students:

• What’s a bull market?
• What is the Dow Jones Industrial Index?
• How does a bull market end?
• What are the emotions that are typically associated with a bull market?
• What is the range (high and low) for length and %age advance for bull markets since 1900? What conclusion can you draw from this analysis?
• How does this bull market (from March 2009 to present) compare to earlier bull markets in terms of length (months) and advance?
• What might explain why this bull market is among the longest since 1900?
• What is one danger of an excessively long bull market such as the one that stretched from 1921-29?
• If you were able to invest $1,000 in March 2009 in the Dow Jones, what would it be worth in August 2016?
• Based on this data, do you think that now is a good time to invest in the stock market?

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.