The 2020s have been a lucrative decade so far for diversified investors, but the road has been very bumpy at times. While the S&P 500 has generated a total return of 123% since the beginning of 2020, investors only benefited from those gains if they had the nerve to stay the course through a number of unprecedented geopolitical and economic events.
Fortunately, the stock market has overcome these disruptions and continued its long-term trend of marching steadily higher to new all-time highs. Here are 10 of the biggest developments that have changed investing in the 2020s:
COVID-19 Pandemic
There’s a strong argument that the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has been the single biggest global news story of the 21st century. In March 2020, fears concerning the deadly virus followed by aggressive economic lockdowns around the world ended the longest bull market in U.S. history in record time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 20% in just over 20 days, exceeding the speed of the 1929 Wall Street crash. The S&P 500 fell from an intraday peak of 3,393 on Feb. 19, 2020, to a low of 2,191 on March 23, 2020.
Unprecedented Federal Stimulus
In response to the pandemic and the economic lockdowns, the U.S. Federal Reserve responded by cutting its fed funds interest rate to near 0% in March 2020 and subsequently implementing unprecedented quantitative easing measures that included loans, asset purchases and other COVID economic relief measures. In all, the U.S. government spent an estimated $4.6 trillion on economic stimulus to prevent the complete collapse of the economy during and after the shutdowns. Fortunately, this massive liquidity injection halted the stock market crash, and the S&P 500 was back at all-time highs by August 2020.
Meme Stocks
In early 2021, a combination of extreme pandemic-era economic conditions, zero-commission trading apps and coordinated social media trading campaigns triggered a boom in so-called meme stocks. In early 2021, many Americans were bored and stuck at home with nothing to do and also had extra cash from government stimulus checks. The popularity of Robinhood and other zero-commission trading apps exploded, and so too did meme stocks like GameStop Corp. （ticker: GME） and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. （AMC）。 Traders organized coordinated buying efforts on social media to trigger short squeezes in these meme stocks, temporarily skyrocketing their stock prices without any major fundamental news from the companies.
Post-Pandemic Inflation
Even after the pandemic had run its course, the economic disruptions it caused have lingered throughout the 2020s. Perhaps the biggest lasting economic impact of the pandemic has been inflation. A combination of pent-up demand, government stimulus spending and supply chain disruptions sent goods and services prices soaring in the years following the pandemic, and year-over-year CPI inflation in the U.S. hit a 40-year high of 9.1% back in June 2022. From March 2022 to July 2023, the Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate from around 0% to around 5.25% to combat surging inflation.
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
In February 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rattled financial markets around the world. In the U.S., the S&P 500 dropped more than 7% in early March 2022 before stabilizing. The war also triggered extreme volatility in commodity markets, including oil prices surging to more than $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014. Spiking energy prices further complicated the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation, and U.S. financial support for Ukraine added to investor concerns over U.S. federal debt. More than four years later, the Russia-Ukrainian war is still going with no immediate end in sight.
U.S. Regional Banking Crisis
In 2023, the U.S. financial sector was rattled by a regional banking crisis that led to some of the largest banking collapses in U.S. history. Rapid Federal Reserve interest rate hikes decreased the value of regional banks’ bond portfolios, and massive unrealized losses on bank balance sheets triggered panic among depositors. Silicon Valley Bank failed on March 10, 2023, followed by Signature Bank on March 12. On May 1, First Republic Bank was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. （FDIC）。 The FDIC and Federal Reserve ultimately resolved the crisis by providing liquidity and guaranteeing deposits.
Artificial Intelligence Boom
The biggest investing theme that has fueled the bull market of the 2020s has been AI technology. OpenAI released AI chatbot ChatGPT in late 2022, and within two months of release the platform had more than 100 million monthly active users. Companies and investors alike recognized AI technology as potentially the largest wealth creator since the internet and began piling money into AI infrastructure, research and stocks. AI chipmaker Nvidia Corp. （NVDA） has been one of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks of the 2020s, and the other “Magnificent 7” technology mega-cap stocks have also led the S&P 500’s rally.
Spot Crypto ETFs Approved
Bitcoin （BTC） and other top cryptocurrencies have continued their historic run in the 2020s. The landmark launch of the first cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds has helped crypto transition from a niche technology investment to a mainstream asset class that is easily accessible to every investor. In October 2021, ProShares launched the first-ever U.S. Bitcoin futures ETF that held Bitcoin futures contracts but not actual BTC. The Securities and Exchange Commission then approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs holding actual cryptocurrency in January 2024 and the first spot Ethereum （ETH） ETFs just months later.
Oil Market Volatility
The oil market has been particularly volatile in the 2020s, ranging from extreme price collapse to crisis-driven highs. First, COVID lockdowns caused energy demand to plummet, and lack of storage capacity sent West Texas Intermediate （WTI） crude oil prices to historic lows of negative $37 per barrel in April 2020. Just two years later, oil topped $100 per barrel after Russia invaded Ukraine. By early 2026, the Donald Trump administration’s “drill baby drill” attitude toward oil production had WTI prices back down below $60. However, Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran in February sent oil prices soaring back above $100 per barrel.
Trump Trade Wars and Tariffs
Since President Trump returned to office in 2025, he has made tariffs the centerpiece of his economic policy agenda. In April 2025, Trump announced universal “Liberation Day” import tariffs of 10% and even higher reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners. The goal of the tariffs was to protect U.S. manufacturing jobs and reduce trade deficits, but critics argued they would also raise input costs and increase inflation. After months of trade negotiations and policy changes throughout 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that Trump’s broad tariffs were unconstitutional, leaving investors uncertain about the future.
