Railroads. Radio. Nifty Fifty. Personal Computers. Biotech. Internet

You see that every few decades there are new bubble/booms. And in every new boom there is a bubble in a few of the leading names.

In the most recent Internet boom the stocks everyone had to own were the “Four Horsemen” of Microsoft, Intel, Cisco & Dell. They peaked with a market value of nearly $1.5 trillion. Combined they bottomed just a few years later with a value of of $250 billion, a loss of 80% from peak to trough. They have since doubled off their respective low-water mark to a market value of about half a trillion.

Today that group is comprised simply of Apple, Google & Amazon. Currently they sport a market value of just over $1 trillion. At their low water mark, at their 2008 lows, they traded with a market value of about $170 billion. They are up almost 500%.

In each bubble/boom, the names that “everyone must own” become ridiculous, yet are justified at their time. Today is no different.