S&P 400 MidCap Downtrend Replay (2002-08-22 to 2002-10-09)
Replay the S&P 400 MidCap correction from July to October 2002, when the index slipped -3.3% and a single bar swung 4.2%. You walk through 68 daily bars, make decisions at 11 points, and receive an AI coach review on your simulated trades.
68 daily bars · 11 decision points · 2002-07 to 2002-10 · Stocks
Key facts
This window spans 94 days with a peak-to-trough drawdown of 19.8% and a 15.5% run-up.
- Max drawdown
- −19.8%
- Max run-up
- +15.5%
- Duration
- 94 days
- Largest single-day move
- +4.2%
- Bars
- 68 Daily bars
- Decision points
- 11
Every figure above is computed programmatically from this replay’s own candle series — no editorial input, no LLM. Methodology: Methodology
The market advances day by day. You only see candles up to the current day — as if you were really there.
At key decision points choose Buy / Trim / Exit / Hold. Each decision advances the timeline by one day.
After settlement you get a six-dimension score and an AI coach review. Your result enters the scenario leaderboard.
Event Replay
What happened — and what it teaches
The S&P 400 MidCap index in the summer of 2002 occupied a precarious position in the post-dot-com landscape, with investors navigating between lingering uncertainty and tentative signs of stability. This period tested the ability to make decisions amid shifting market sentiment, where the direction of equities remained genuinely unclear. Mid-cap stocks, sitting between the volatility of small caps and the stability of large caps, offered a particular lens into how participants managed risk when the broader trend was uncertain.
The index closed the replay window at 424.63, down from 438.96, a modest -3.3% decline over 68 daily bars. Yet the headline number concealed a wilder reality: a maximum drawdown of 19.8% tested portfolios along the way, while the largest single-bar move of 4.2% demonstrated how quickly sentiment could swing. With 11 decision points, including 4 critical moments, participants faced repeated tests of discipline and timing throughout the correction.
This replay teaches that percentage loss rarely tells the full story of an investor's experience. The gap between the -3.3% close and the 19.8% drawdown underscores how corrections can punish those without robust risk controls. For decision training, the scenario emphasizes process over prediction: managing volatility, sizing positions appropriately, and maintaining psychological equilibrium when a single session moves 4.2%. The goal is not to call the bottom but to navigate uncertainty with consistent discipline.