Buy and Hold Strategy for AMZN (Amazon.com, Inc.)

The strategy spanned a total of 10228 days, covering the full period from 1997-05-15 to 2025-05-16. This range represents all available trading data we could find — likely from the stock's initial listing date up to the most recent trading day.

Performance Overview

Starting with an initial capital of $10000, we purchased shares of AMZN on 1997-05-15, at a price of $0.1 per share (adjusted for splits and dividends). No trading, no tinkering — just a simple buy-and-hold approach.

We held the position continuously through every market twist and turn, never selling. As of 2025-05-16, the price of AMZN had risen to $205.59. While we didn't sell, we can still assess the performance by calculating the current value of the investment: $20996354.12.

This translates into an annualized return of 31.41% over the entire period. The return is outstanding and far exceeds typical market returns. Such performance usually reflects an unusually favorable period or a high-risk, high-reward asset.

Drawdown and Risk

The maximum drawdown recorded during this period was 94.4%. This drawdown began after a peak price of $5.33 on 1999-12-10, and reached its lowest point on 2001-09-28 when the price fell to $0.3. The drawdown lasted for 658 days.

This investment experienced an extreme decline, reflecting exceptional volatility or exposure to severe market stress. Such drawdowns are typically seen in early-stage, speculative, or high-beta assets. The maximum drawdown lasted over a year, indicating an extended period of underperformance. This duration is typical of major corrections or bear markets.

The return-to-risk ratio, known as the Calmar Ratio, is 0.33. This metric is calculated by dividing the annualized return by the maximum drawdown, both expressed as percentages. It helps assess how efficiently the strategy converted risk into reward.

A moderate return-to-risk profile. The strategy handled risk reasonably well while delivering decent returns.