Market history 1939 to 1942
War in Europe and Pearl Harbor
The S&P 500 through the episode, from its peak to its low and back to the peak, and what happened.
S&P 500, daily closeFall, peak to lowThe peak's levelThe episode's months
S&P 500 daily close, price only (the S&P 90 before March 1957). Yahoo Finance, ^GSPC, to 30 Oct 2026.
What happened
Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 and France fell in June 1940. The United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The index drifted lower for three years and touched its low in April 1942, as the war in the Pacific went badly.
Play it
The Trading Simulator replays two years of the S&P 500 from January 1939, day by day: stay invested or move to cash, and finish ahead of the index if you can. The game counts dividends, so its figures differ from the price figures here.
On Andra Markets
How the figures are measured
From the S&P 500's daily closes, price only: dividends are not included. An episode's fall is the largest drop from a close to a later close within its months, from the highest close before the low. Where an episode's text measures from a peak in the episode before or to a low in the episode after, the figures do too: the Great Depression from the 1929 peak, Sputnik and the 1957 recession from the 1956 high, and the Volcker squeeze to the low of August 1982. Months are calendar months, rounded. Back at the peak is the first close at or above the peak's close.
The text of each episode is the one the Trading Simulator shows at the end of a game. For information only. Not investment advice.