The 2010s were a relatively soothing whitewater rapid ride for stock investors, considering all the pain caused in the century’s first decade by the Great Recession. Stockholders were cheered by a U.S. economy that emerged from the steep downturn to create the longest-running expansion of a business cycle on record. Bottom line: The widely watched S&P 500 stock index almost tripled in value in the 2010s after Wall Street’s worst decade since World War II.

A tale of two decades

The S&P index’s 190% gain last decade was a welcome rebound from a 24% loss amid the global financial implosion of the 2000s. Now the 2010s had its ups and downs with the S&P up in seven of the 10 years vs. just six winning years in the previous decade.

S&P’s comeback

Last decade’s market gains were nowhere near historically large gains. Yes, the average post-World War II gains for a decade were 148%. But the S&P rose 316% in the ’90s and 227% in the ’80s.

2010s did have three down years. Yet in a pair of those losers — 2011 and 2015 — the S&P fell by less than 1%.

2011’s two back-to-back summer days were the decade’s wildest: On Aug. 8, the S&P fell 6.7%, its biggest loss. The next day, the index rose 4.7%, its biggest gain.2017 was a year for stability. The S&P rose 19% in a year with 57% up days, only 3% of which were moves of 1% or more.2018 was nasty: The S&P index fell 6%, its biggest post-recession tumble. The index rose on just 53% of trading days as 1% moves, up or down, were seen on 25% of the sessions.

2019 was a wild but winning year for investors: up 29% — best year since 2013 and seventh-best since 1949. But 2019’s upswing wasn’t smooth: up for 60% of the year’s trading days. But 15% of those sessions had the index finish up or down by 1% or more.

Winners

NETFLIX: Nothing changed more in the decade than how we consume entertainment. Investors who bet on the online player that leads the streaming revolution were rewarded with 4,127% gains.

BROADCOM: The swiftly growing interconnected world is powered by tiny technology. This Orange County-bred company is a leading designer of the communications chips that market gadget work. That’s why shares surged 1,587% in the decade.

AMAZON: Investors who bet on a retailing transformation were finally rewarded this decade, after the dot-com bust and Great Recession debacles. Shopping’s biggest change agent’s stock jumped 1,323%.

Losers

FREEPORT-McMoRAN: Commodities are hot bets in bad times. So the global economy recovery of the 2010s was bad news for mining companies. Look at Freeport-McMoRan, which pulls copper and gold from the ground: Its share dropped 70% in the decade.

KRAFT HEINZ: Big mergers rarely pay off, especially in a decade in which the combined businesses suffered from a move away from branded groceries. This marriage of household names cost investors 59% of their money.

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM: Oil prices cratered, making energy stocks a bad place to be in the 2010s. This oil producer made a bad acquisition and relocated its headquarters out of California. Its stock tanked 51% over 10 years.