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Illustration of depositors in 1907 clothing lined up outside a marble bank in New York during the Panic of 1907, a policeman at the door

Free · No signup · Real 1905–1909 prices

Panic of 1907 simulator

Market Rewind · Historical simulation

July 1905. You have $10,000 in pretend money.

It starts invested in the Dow, an index of large US companies. At 12 moments, choose how much stays in stocks and how much moves to cash. Future prices stay hidden while you play.

Pretend money, real 1905–1909 prices.
Historical education, not investment advice.

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How the Panic of 1907 simulation works

You start in July 1905 with $10,000 in pretend money, invested in the Dow. The replay stops at 12 moments, each with the news people had that day. At each one you choose how much to keep in stocks: all of it, half, a quarter or none. Future prices stay hidden until you continue, so you decide with what was known at the time.

How the Panic of 1907 replay calculates results

A change you make trades at that day's closing level. Between decisions nothing is rebalanced, so the share of your money in stocks moves with prices. Cash earns no interest, and fees, spreads, slippage and taxes are ignored. These are simplifications: on a fast-moving day a real order could not count on the closing price. The score at the end describes the choices you made in this simulation, not your investing ability, and it does not reward the highest balance.

Where the Panic of 1907 prices come from

Dow Jones Industrial Average closing levels (price only, dividends not included), from MeasuringWorth's daily Dow series, restored to the levels printed at the time, and checked against the National Bureau of Economic Research's monthly Dow series.

Read the history behind the replay

For what happened, what caused it and how the recovery is measured, read Panic of 1907: how far stocks fell, how long recovery took. Related terms: liquidity, federal reserve, bear market, panic selling.

Panic of 1907 in brief

In October 1907 a failed attempt to corner the shares of United Copper set off runs on New York banks and trust companies, and the Knickerbocker Trust stopped paying depositors on October 22. Bankers led by J.P. Morgan raised money to keep the stock exchange open and to support trust companies they judged sound. The Dow fell to 53.00 on November 15, 1907, 48.5% below its January 1906 record. The panic helped lead Congress to create the Federal Reserve in 1913. Read the full story

Panic of 1907 simulator: questions

Is the Panic of 1907 simulator free?

Yes. It is free, needs no account, and uses pretend money. Nothing you do in it touches a real account.

How much did stocks fall in the Panic of 1907?

Close to close, the Dow fell 48.5%, from its record of 103.00 on January 19, 1906 to 53.00 on November 15, 1907. The 40.9% figure also quoted comes from a 2002 National Bureau of Economic Research paper by Frederic Mishkin and Eugene White, which compares monthly averages from December 1906. By September 30, 1907, before the October bank runs, the Dow was already 34.3% below its record.

Does the simulator use real 1907 market data?

Yes. Every price is a real closing level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, then an average of 12 industrial stocks, from July 1905 to December 1909. The levels are from MeasuringWorth's daily Dow series, restored to the figures printed at the time, and checked against the National Bureau of Economic Research's monthly Dow series.

How long does a run take?

About seven minutes for all 12 moments. You can also skip to the end at any point and see how leaving your money alone would have turned out.

Does the simulator show when to buy or sell?

No. It is a historical replay for education. It shows how one stretch of history played out for the choices you made, and it cannot give a rule for when to buy or sell. Past performance does not indicate future results.

Why does the replay use the Dow and not the S&P 500?

The S&P 500 did not exist in 1907. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, started in 1896, is the best-known stock index with a daily close for those years. The replay counts prices only: dividends are not included, and cash earns no interest.

Keep learning

Educational simulation only. Historical data is shown for teaching purposes; past performance does not indicate future results. Simulated outcomes are hypothetical and ignore fees, spread, slippage and taxes. Real investing involves costs and emotions a simulation cannot reproduce. StockCram is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, or financial institution.