What a tumultuous decade it’s been in the financial markets. We’ve seen peaks and valleys like never before, and it makes you wonder what lies ahead.

Just ten years ago, things were better than they had ever been in the stock market. Just about everything was at an all time high, and things showed no signs of slowing down. People were buying things blindly, despite the fact that P/E ratios were significantly higher than they had ever been.

People were doubling their money within months, and overnight millionaires were born. Just about everyone out there was trading stocks, and many quit their jobs for the sake of day trading. CNBC was a fixture on television sets around the country.

The NASDAQ’s all-time high of over 5,000 still seems surreal today, and things quickly corrected themselves. Many stocks were fractions of their previous high just months after things peaked.

To think that the indexes were as high as they were seems ludicrous in hindsight. Within the span of a few months, the markets had corrected by over 20%. Late 2001 was even worse, as the events of September 11th brought about new financial worries.

Things slowly rebounded during the next few years, until the Dow Jones industrial average rallied to an all-time high in 2006, breaking 14,000 at one point. Many feared another bubble that was bound to correct itself.

At the same time, oil prices hit all-time highs, and things like forex trading became extremely popular. The mania was back and everyone wanted to be a part of it.

As you well know, the end of the decade ended on a poor note, as we’ve been hit with one of the biggest bear markets in history. On the bright side, things look to be slowly improving and we could very well be on our way back up the roller coaster.

If you’re interested in the forex markets, read this author’s article about the Forex no loss robot ripoff concerns.