Chart Stories

Insights that go beyond the numbers. Use these charts to power your storytelling
and help clients make better investment decisions.

Market Volatility

Market downturns are painful, but history shows they’re common. Over the long term, stocks have been resilient.

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Markets have powered through previous crises

A mountain chart presents a long-term view of the S&P 500 Index’s cumulative total returns from January 1, 1987, through December 31, 2025, indexed to a starting value of 100. The chart is plotted on a logarithmic scale to better visualize percentage changes over time. It highlights the market’s performance across more than three decades, marking key global and economic crises along the timeline. These include events such as Black Monday (1987), the Gulf Wars, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dot-com bubble burst, 9/11, the global financial crisis (2007 to 2009), Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasions of Crimea (2014) and Ukraine (2022). Each event is marked along the timeline to show how the market reacted during and after these periods. Despite significant downturns during crises, the overall trajectory of the S&P 500 has trended upward.

Sources: Capital Group, Standard & Poor's. As of December 31, 2025. Data is indexed to 100 as of January 1, 1987, based on cumulative total returns for the S&P 500 Index. Shown on a logarithmic scale. 

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Most popular charts

Why AI may not be a bubble

LEFT: Two horizontal lines represent the changes between the combined market cap and combined forward earnings for Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and Dell from 1998 to 2001, indexed to 100 as of January 1, 1998. The chart illustrates the market bubble that formed during the dot-com era, as the growth in the combined market caps far surpassed their growth in earnings. Market caps peaked on March 23, 2000, before the bubble burst, leading to a sharp decline and eventual convergence with earnings by early 2001. RIGHT: Two horizontal lines represent the changes between the combined market cap and combined forward earnings for NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Broadcom, and Alphabet from 2020 to 2025, indexed to 100 as of January 1, 2020. The chart illustrates that while market cap has surged since 2020, earnings growth has largely kept pace.
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Bull markets have been much longer and stronger than bears

An area chart showing the cumulative S&P 500 price return of all U.S. bull and bear markets since 1949. The average bull market had a 265% total return and a duration of 67 months. The average bear market had a –33% total return and a duration of 12 months.
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After large declines, stocks can recover quickly

A bar chart showing the five largest U.S. stock market (S&P 500) declines and the subsequent recovery 1-year and 2-years after bottoming.
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Fed interest rate cuts can be good for stocks and bonds

Two vertical bar charts compare average annualized returns across U.S. stocks, international stocks, U.S. bonds, and cash during the last seven Federal Reserve interest rate cutting cycles. One chart represents non-recessionary cutting cycles, the other recessionary cutting cycles. Returns are notably higher in non-recessionary periods: 27.9% for U.S. stocks, 27.5% for international stocks, 16.7% for U.S. bonds, and 6.2% for cash. In contrast, recessionary cycles show lower or negative returns: -3.5% for U.S. stocks, -9.4% for international stocks, 9.8% for U.S. bonds, and 3.7% for cash.
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Midterms: historically choppy markets followed by late-year rally

A line chart compares average S&P 500 year‑to‑date returns in midterm election years versus all other years from January through December, beginning in 1931. The "all other years" line trends steadily higher throughout the year, while the midterm‑year line hovers between +1% and negative 2% until late in the year, before rising in November and December.
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Stocks have trended higher regardless of which party was in office

An area chart illustrating how a hypothetical $1,000 investment made on March 4, 1933 grew steadily through December 31, 2025, reaching a value of $31.7 million. The visualization highlights long‑term market resilience across political administrations and periods of volatility.
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Investors have underestimated the long-term impact of new tech

An infographic compares initial forecasts with actual adoption for the PC, internet, mobile, and cloud technology revolutions. In every case, forecasts underestimated adoption, by an average of 38%.
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AI spending has surpassed the dot-com mania

A line chart which shows U.S. technology and R&D spending as a percentage of GDP from 1995 to 2025. In 2020, spending surpassed the dot-com peak of 6.5% and has since grown to 7.5%, driven by increased investment in generative AI.
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U.S. and international stocks take turns leading

A combined line chart and shaded area chart showing the rolling 5-year monthly relative returns of the S&P 500 index versus the MSCI EAFE index and the US dollar index from January 1976 to December 2025. The chart highlights that periods of international outperformance usually coincided with a weaker dollar.
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