Free · No signup · Real 2007–2009 prices
2008 financial crisis simulator
Market Rewind · Historical simulation
January 2007. You have $10,000 in pretend money.
It starts invested in the S&P 500, 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.
For teachers: a 2008 financial crisis lesson plan
A free 30-minute lesson with a printable worksheet, and an answer key for teachers who sign in. Students play the 2008 financial crisis game free, with no account.
Get new lesson kits by emailHow the 2008 financial crisis simulation works
You start in January 2007 with $10,000 in pretend money, invested in the S&P 500. 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 2008 financial crisis replay calculates results
You decide after reading the day's news and its closing level, so a change you make trades at the next trading day's close, as an order placed that evening would. On a crash day, a sale decided the evening before goes through after the fall. 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. 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.
How the score works
- Stayed invested, up to 40 points: the share of the time your money was in stocks.
- Held through declines, up to 40 points: each sale of 15% or more of your money, decided while the market is at least 10% below its high, costs 15. Buying back at a higher price than you sold costs 10.
- Avoided churn, up to 20 points: your first 2 changes are free, and each one after that costs 5.
- Your final balance is not part of the score.
- The score assumes this is money you will not need for years. Many people hold less in stocks for money they need soon; the score does not measure that choice.
Where the 2008 financial crisis prices come from
S&P 500 index closing prices (price only, dividends not included), from Yahoo Finance, each checked against StatMuse.
2008 financial crisis in brief
On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Two weeks later the House voted down a $700 billion bank rescue, and the S&P 500 fell 8.8% that day. In the 2008 stock market crash, the S&P 500 fell 57% from its October 9, 2007 record to March 9, 2009.
2008 financial crisis simulator: questions
Is the 2008 financial crisis simulator free?
Yes. It is free, needs no account, and uses pretend money. Nothing you do in it touches a real account.
Does the simulator use real 2008 market data?
Yes. Every price is a real S&P 500 closing level from January 2007 to December 2009, taken from Yahoo Finance and checked against StatMuse. From Lehman Brothers to the end of October 2008 the replay uses every trading day.
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 simply holding would have turned out.
Does the simulator show when to buy or sell?
No. It replays one stretch of history, 2007 to 2009, for education, and shows how the choices you made would have played out. It offers no rule for when to buy or sell. Past performance does not indicate future results.
Is this the same as the 2008 stock market crash?
Yes. The 2008 financial crisis brought the 2008 stock market crash: the S&P 500 fell 57% from its October 9, 2007 record to its March 9, 2009 low. The simulator replays it from January 2007 to December 2009.
How long did the stock market take to recover from 2008?
By price alone, the S&P 500 first closed above its October 9, 2007 record on March 28, 2013, about five and a half years later. SPY, a fund that tracks the index, got back there on August 16, 2012, with dividends reinvested. The replay counts prices only and ends in December 2009, when the index was still 29% below its record.
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.