The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought JB Hi-Fi in 2008?
The GFC, and the consensus was that an electronics retailer with thin margins was exactly the wrong thing to own into a recession. JB Hi-Fi spent the next decade quietly proving the consensus spectacularly wrong.
$100 on 2008-01-01, worth today
A$1,222
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of JB Hi-Fi bought at 2008's open (A$6.32) is worth A$1,222 — 12.2×.
total return · dividends reinvested · AUD
How much would $100 of JB Hi-Fi bought in 2008 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| A$100 | A$1,222 | 12.2× |
| A$1,000 | A$12,223 | 12.2× |
| A$10,000 | A$122,231 | 12.2× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did JB Hi-Fi do in 2008?
Opened
A$6.32
2008-01-01
Peaked
A$6.32
2008-01-01
Bottomed
A$3.01
2008-11-17
Closed
A$4.08
2008-12-30
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
A$96,300 deployed as $100 a week from 2008-01-01, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | A$1.2M |
| Steady weekly buys | A$626,527 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | A$535,033 |
| Traded it perfectly | A$1.7M |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
The same $1,000, elsewhere
$1,000 at 2008's open, each valued at the latest close. Hindsight remains undefeated.
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