Okay, is it all right to start panicking now?
Many investors are asking themselves this question as the markets go through another bumpy ride. Market pundits who, just a few weeks ago were telling us that there would be a market surge, are now predicting a bearish decline. Others are saying the obvious: companies and traders don’t like the anticipated effect of new tariffs on the American business community.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” – Mark Twain
Financial crises have hit the global markets on a regular basis throughout history. And it appears financial crises will continue to pop up at regular intervals into the future. The first recorded speculative bubble was Tulip Mania in 1637, a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which the prices for fashionable tulip bulbs reached extraordinarily high levels only to dramatically collapse. Today, we view stocks, bonds and commodities as our investments of choice and, as always, current events continue to cause the financial markets to fluctuate, sometimes dramatically.
Here is a brief history of major financial crisis that have hit the globe in the past few decades. Each time, the stock and bond markets have taken a beating. And time and again, they bounce back to higher highs.
