I've been looking at the U.S. stock market performance over the past decade, and the numbers are honestly pretty eye-opening. Most people don't realize just how dominant American equities are globally—we're talking about 43% of the entire world's stock market value. That's a massive chunk.

When people talk about tracking the stock market, they usually mention three main indexes. The S&P 500 is probably the most important one since it covers 500 large-cap companies and represents about 80% of the domestic market. Over the last decade through early 2024, it returned 163% total, which breaks down to about 10.2% annually. Not bad at all. The index is dominated by mega-cap tech stocks—Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia make up a significant portion of the weighting.

Then there's the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is more selective. It only includes 30 blue-chip companies with excellent reputations and consistent earnings. Interestingly, it underperformed the S&P 500 over that same period, returning 131% with an 8.7% annual rate. But here's the thing—it was also less volatile, which matters for risk-conscious investors. Companies like UnitedHealth Group, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs were among its top performers.

The real surprise? The Nasdaq Composite absolutely crushed it. With over 3,000 constituents heavily weighted toward tech and growth stocks, it returned a whopping 264% over the decade, compounding at 13.8% annually. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia dominated its composition too. The tradeoff is volatility—higher returns came with higher swings.

What strikes me most is that all three indexes went through multiple corrections and two bear markets during this period, yet they all came out massively profitable. The S&P 500 and Dow more than doubled, and the Nasdaq tripled. This really illustrates something important: if you stayed invested through the noise and chaos, you made serious money.

Warren Buffett has always said the same thing—most professional money managers can't beat the S&P 500, and he's right. Less than 15% of large-cap funds outperformed it over this decade. That's why index funds tracking these benchmarks became so popular. You can get direct exposure through various ETFs, and honestly, for most investors, that's probably the smart play.

The lesson here is patience. The market creates wealth over time through a combination of innovation and commerce. Sure, you'll see dips and corrections, but the long-term trend has been clear. Whether it's the S&P 500, Dow, or Nasdaq, all three proved to be profitable over the past ten years. That's worth remembering when you're deciding where to put your money.