Which Stocks Recovered First After the Great Depression? The Gold Miner That Rose While the Dow Fell 89%
After the worst crash in American history, which stocks came back first — and how long did it actually take? Gold miners never fell at all. The first climbers off the bottom were a thermostat maker and a soft-drink company. And the famous "top 10" list of Depression winners is mostly a story about World War II, not the recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell from 381.17 on September 3, 1929, to 41.22 on July 8, 1932 — a loss of 89%. Prices did not climb back above the 1929 peak until November 23, 1954. Yesterday's briefing covered how much the market fell and what came next . This one answers the follow-up question: which stocks led the way back, in what order, and what the numbers actually say. All figures are as of November 14, 2026, unless noted otherwise. First, three different meanings of "first" "Recovered first" has three answers, and mixing them up is why most articles on this question mislead. The search results for this question ...