What History Reveals About Investing Through a Stock Market Crash

Key Points The S&P 500 lost over 40% of its value during the dot-com crash. The S&P 500 lost over 50% of its value during the Great Recession. Those massive declines are barely noticeable today. 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard S&P 500 ETF › Wall Street pays a huge amount of attention to the price movements of the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) . If stocks are in a bull market, everyone wants to know when the next bear market will arrive. If there's a bear market, everyone keeps an eye out for the sign that the next bull market has come along. History shows you should ignore Wall Street and focus on a long-term plan of saving and investing, no matter what the market is doing.