The market, by the numbers

Statistics

Ninety-eight years of S&P 500 history and fourteen years of tech IPOs, drawn so you can see the ups, the falls and the climbs back.

Missing the best days

What does sitting out a handful of strong days cost?

RBL | US | 06Updated 31 Oct, 6:32 am SGT

Missed the best 10 days$40,085+6.9% a year

Stayed in every day$90,104+11.1% a year

Cost of missing them$50,01956% of the end value

Best days near the worst6 of 10Came within two weeks of a top-10 worst day

$10,000 in the S&P 500, 3 Jan 2006 to 30 Oct 2026

Best days missed10

Stayed in every day$90,104 +11.1% a year
Missed the best 5$55,652 +8.6% a year
Missed the best 10$40,085 +6.9% a year
Missed the best 20$23,668 +4.2% a year
Missed the best 30$15,453 +2.1% a year
Missed the best 40$10,576 +0.3% a year
Missed the best 50$7,558 −1.3% a year

The 10 best days	Total return
13 Oct 2008	+11.58% ▲
28 Oct 2008	+10.79% ▲
9 Apr 2025	+9.52% ▲
24 Mar 2020	+9.39% ▲
13 Mar 2020	+9.32% ▲
23 Mar 2009	+7.10% ▲
6 Apr 2020	+7.03% ▲
13 Nov 2008	+6.93% ▲
24 Nov 2008	+6.47% ▲
10 Mar 2009	+6.37% ▲

The 10 worst days	Total return
16 Mar 2020	−11.98% ▼
12 Mar 2020	−9.49% ▼
15 Oct 2008	−9.03% ▼
1 Dec 2008	−8.92% ▼
29 Sep 2008	−8.79% ▼
9 Oct 2008	−7.62% ▼
9 Mar 2020	−7.59% ▼
20 Nov 2008	−6.71% ▼
8 Aug 2011	−6.65% ▼
19 Nov 2008	−6.11% ▼

Technical

Over 5,240 trading days, missing just the 10 best cut the yearly return from +11.1% to +6.9%. 6 of the 10 best days came within two weeks of one of the 10 worst.

Plain English

The best days tend to arrive in the middle of the worst stretches, so getting out after a scary drop often means missing the bounce too.

Source: S&P 500 Total Return index (^SP500TR) daily closes, dividends reinvested: Yahoo Finance. Data to 30 Oct 2026. Refreshed each weekday after the US and SGX closes.

Missing a day here means earning nothing that day and being fully invested on every other day. It's an illustration of how concentrated returns are, not a strategy anyone could follow. Past returns don't predict future returns.

Past returns don't predict future returns. Figures are for US markets; a Singapore investor also carries the US dollar's moves against the Singapore dollar. For education only. Not financial advice.