| In March 2000 the longest-running bull market in United States history came to a spectacular end when the stock prices of many companies plummeted. After a decade of rising stock prices, led by high-tech companies oriented to the Internet, about $8 trillion in stock market wealth was wiped out. Observers described the extraordinary market increase as the Internet or dotcom bubble, but although Internet firms saw the most drastic declines, the bursting bubble affected the entire stock market and led to one of the longest-running bear markets in U.S. history. This chart shows the stock performance of selected Internet-related companies over a 15-month period ending in August 2001. |
Hotmail
Messenger
My MSN
MSN Directory
