There is no way to deny that it has been a wild ride since the bull market has officially turned 8 years old. The period of March 6 to March 9 in 2009 marked the miraculous v-bottom trading climax of the Great Recession. It was not until years later that many of the retail investors got back in the market, but it has been a wild ride since that time.

24/7 Wall St. wanted to look at the top performing stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since the March 9, 2009 selling climax. That day and the days before that date felt crazy. For some, that was a chaotic time that brings back some very bad memories. For those who were opportunists deciding to take a stab at the market, it was incredibly rewarding.

Investors need to consider that the mix of the Dow’s 30 components changes through time. In fact, most of the top Dow performers since the 2009 were not even yet members at the time of the v-bottom in 2009.

Due to each $1.00 in current share prices potentially influencing the total returns since the recession’s v-bottom, 247/7 Wall St. has decided to round out the numbers so that investors think of these in general terms rather than down to the penny. After all, you cannot exactly go back in time and turn in limit orders (but if you figure out how to, please let us know before).

It may not shock readers to hear this, but Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the best performing Dow stock since the v-bottom in 2009. A gain of almost 1,200% sure sounds alluring. While it was back in January of 2007 that the famed Steve Jobs announced the iPhone at the Macworld, investors need to keep in mind that Apple did not even join the Dow until 2015.

The second best performing Dow stock in the screen was UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH). No, Obamacare didn’t kill the insurance sector. And like Apple — you cannot go back in time and buy this as a Dow stock back then because UnitedHealth didn’t join the Dow until 2012. As a reminder, this was right before the 2012 presidential election and adding a health insurer to the 30 most established companies felt strange.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) has been a Dow member for years now (1999). This was at a low of about $17.50, before closing at $18.23, on March 9, 2009 — so a price of $147.00 would be a raw gain of almost 750% from the lows.

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) wasn’t just a Dow stock back at the v-bottom of the recession in 2009. It was a huge portfolio stake of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway back then. AmEx shares broke under $10.00 at the lows of the day on March 9, 2009 and closed at $10.64 that day. With shares at $79.00 now, that’s a gain of about 700%. Imagine if AmEx hadn’t lost Costco and run into other recent problems.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was a member of the Dow in 2009, but it had not yet made the $4 billion move to acquire Marvel (later in 2009) and had now yet acquired Star Wars for about $4 billion. Disney was under $16 on March 9, 2009 and a $111 share price now is close to a 600% gain!

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was another great Dow performer since the v-bottom date in 2009, but it was also added to the Dow in 2013. With a share price of $89.00 at the current time, Visa shares were at about $12.50 on a split-adjusted basis back on the March 9 date. That’s a 600% gain!

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) has sure had its share of ups and downs since the recession. After all, plane makers hate recessions. At least Boeing has its defense and military business and it has grown in international revenues massively. With Boring shares at $180 or so now, that’s almost a 500% gain from the $31.00 closing price target day.

Again, if you do figure out how to go back in time to turn in some trades — please share the opportunity! If you are looking for some more shockers since the dawn of the bull mark, take a look at how much the headlines have changed on a THEN VERSUS NOW basis.

Since the June of 2009 Dow index changes, there have been many companies added and deleted. Citigroup, GM, Kraft, Alcoa, BofA, H-P, AT&T have all been dropped out of the Dow since that time.

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