Time Machine · March 2020
COVID Crash
The fastest crash in history
Relive the March 2020 COVID crash — the fastest bear market ever. In just 23 trading days the S&P 500 fell 34% as the world locked down, circuit breakers halted trading, and panic peaked. Would you have sold, held, or bought the dip?
Sell, hold, or buy the dip?
Enter the Time Machine and trade COVID Crash with real historical prices. Time rolls forward on its own, headlines break as they did, and an AI coach grades every decision.
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What happened
In February 2020 the S&P 500 sat at an all-time high. Then COVID-19 spread from China to Italy and the world began to lock down, and fear took over the market almost overnight.
Over just 23 trading days the S&P 500 fell 34% — the fastest bear market in history. Circuit breakers halted trading twice in a single week, and March 16 brought a 12% single-day drop, the worst since Black Monday 1987.
The bottom came on March 23. The Federal Reserve pledged unlimited support and Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus. Within five months the market had fully recovered, and investors who bought the dip were up more than 60% a year later.
By the numbers
−34%
Drawdown
23 trading days
Time to bottom
~5 months
Time to recover
~82
Peak VIX (fear)
Timeline
Feb 19, 2020
S&P 500 hits an all-time high
Mar 9, 2020
Oil crashes; first circuit breaker halts trading
Mar 16, 2020
Down 12% — second circuit breaker in a week
Mar 23, 2020
The bottom — S&P 500 at 2,237
Apr 9, 2020
Fed pledges unlimited support
Aug 18, 2020
S&P 500 reclaims a new all-time high
The lesson
The fastest crashes often have the fastest recoveries. Those who panic-sold near the bottom locked in losses; those who held or bought the dip recovered within months.
Real headlines
Period news breaks day by day as it actually did.
Fear gauge
The real VIX shows how scared the market was.
Coach & leaderboard
Every call is scored; climb the scenario leaderboard.