Is the S&P 500 Setting a Trap for Investors Like the Dot-Com Bust of 2000?

June 15, 2023

by Pam Martens and Russ Martens Wall Street on Parade

Following the dot-com mania of the late 90s, the Nasdaq reached a closing high of 5,048.62 on March 10, 2000. The Nasdaq then proceeded to lose 78 percent of its value over the next 2-1/2 years. It reached a closing low of 1,114.11 on October 9, 2002.

There is mounting evidence that the S&P 500 is in a similar bubble today – this time fostered by Wall Street hyperbole and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) around Artificial Intelligence (AI) boosting big gains at mega tech companies.

Headlines are sprouting up at various news outlets, touting that the S&P 500 is in a new bull market. But, in fact, almost all of the gains in the S&P 500 Index year-to-date have come from just seven stocks: Apple (ticker AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, ticker META), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA).