Edit: I offer this example to counter the frequent reddit investment advise to "buy and hold forever", especially surrounding the Mag 7 stocks. Even Buffet who is a big advocate of long term market exposure has sold and rebought Coca-Cola multiple times.
If you bought and held the "Mag 7" of 1985 and held to today you would have nearly no gains.
The top 7 companies in 1985 were.
1. GM which rode up to the 90s in the early 90s, went bankrupt in the 2000s and still isnt at its all time high 30 years later. (This would have been a 100% loss of investment)
2. Exxon did okay, but not a massive gain.
3. IBM the only winner of the lot.
4. ATandT which went through an antitrust breakup and trades well below its ATH. (
5. Dupont which didnt make any significant gains.
6. Ford which trades in the same range as 30 years ago.
7. General Electric which swan dove off a cliff from 1999 to 2021. (Lost 80% of its value in those 20 years).
Essentially if you bought and held these stocks since 1985 you would probably be holding at a loss when adjusted for inflation.