Just two years ago, Intel looked like one of the strongest, most stable, most promising equities in the known universe. This chart is a thing of great beauty, and INTC had made many people a tremendous amount of capital appreciation.

It just goes to show how quickly things can change. Like a bolt from the blue, Intel started a demise that has shredded about 60% – – that’s over a hundred billion dollars of value – – away from the stock. I don’t know enough about the world of semiconductors to explain why this sea-change took place, but keep this in mind when someone poses one of those “what if you had to hold on to a stock for a decade?” type questions, because even the best charts can sour quickly.

More By This Author: