Stock market's biggest winners and losers since 2007 peak
— -- Q: What stocks have been the biggest dogs since the market peaked out? What about the biggest winners?
A: Investors who bought and held a broad diversified basket of stocks are whole again. But investors who speculated on individual stocks have had a very different experience.
Investors who bought the Standard & Poor's 500 index the day the market peaked, Oct. 9, 2007, are down about 10%. That's just part of the story, though.
Factor in dividends that were paid that whole time, and investors are again, at break even. It's been a long time coming, but patient and disciplined investors are again on solid ground.
But don't let the tranquil showing of the broad market fool you into thinking there hasn't been some major drama. Not only was there a massive correction and bear market starting in 2008, but some stocks have been absolutely decimated and failed to come back.
Consider that since Oct. 9, 2007, 63 stocks in the Standard & Poor's 1500 index, which includes large, midsize and small companies, have lost 75% or more of their value.
Another 177 stocks in the index lost 50% to 75% of their value since the market topped. Investors who speculated incorrectly have paid dearly.
Specifically, to answer your question, there have been some real laggards since the market top. The biggest losers from Oct. 10, 2007, through Aug. 15, 2012, on a price basis only and not including dividends, have been (according to S&P Capital IQ and USA TODAY research):
Investors who were unlucky enough to choose the wrong stocks have paid the price. At the same time, investors who took a chance and chose correctly won by a disproportionate amount because there are companies that have such powerful fundamental growth behind them that their stocks are even higher now than they were at the 2007 peak.
Specifically, 12 stocks in the S&P 1500 index rose 400% or more from the market's 2007 high. Another 110 jumped 100% to 400%. Some of the biggest winners include (according to S&P Capital IQ and USA TODAY research):
The market's volatile run from 2007 underscores the dilemma that investors face. Taking the safe road, with a diversified portfolio, has been the way to get back to even and positioned to gain even more as the market shows strength.
Though speculators who lucked out scored giant gains, the ones who weren't so fortunate lost big and may never get back to even on their ill-fated investments.
Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies and Fundamental Analysis for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Follow Matt on Twitter at: twitter.com/mattkrantz
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