Investing became a national pursuit

“From time to time we saw better economies and worse—slowdown and prosperity, recession and recovery. Markets, too, rose and fell. These fluctuations were attributable to normal economic cycles and to exogenous developments (such as the oil embargo in 1973 and the emerging market crisis in 1998). The Standard & Poor’s 500 had a few down years in the period from 1975 to 1999, but none in which it lost more than 7.5%. On the upside, however, 16 of those 25 years showed returns above 15%, and seven times the annual gain exceeded 30%. Despite the ups and downs, investors profited overall, investing became a national pursuit, and Warren Buffett, one of America’s richest men, got that way by buying common stocks and whole companies. A serious general uptrend was underway, reaching its zenith in 2007.”

Excerpt From: Howard Marks. “Mastering the Market Cycle.”