Just came across this fascinating historical chart from Samuel Benner back in 1875 where he mapped out economic cycles and periods when to make money. The guy was basically trying to crack the code on when markets boom, crash, and recover.

He broke it down into three distinct phases. First, there's the panic years – roughly every 18 to 20 years – when financial crises hit and everything gets messy. Think 1927, 1945, 1965, 1981, 1999, 2019. His prediction had 2035 and 2053 coming up too. During these periods, the smart move is to sit tight and not panic sell.

Then you've got the boom years where prices are climbing and recovery is in full swing. These are your windows to actually sell and lock in profits. He mapped out quite a few: 1928, 1935, 1943, 1953, 1960, 1968, 1973, 1980, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2007, 2016, 2020, 2026, 2034, 2043, 2054. Notice how 2026 is right in there – interesting timing.

The third piece is the recession years when everything's quiet and prices are suppressed. That's when you want to be aggressive buying – stocks, land, commodities, whatever. Hold through those tough times until the boom cycle kicks in. Years like 1924, 1931, 1942, 1951, 1958, 1969, 1978, 1985, 1996, 2005, 2012, 2023, 2032, 2040, 2050, 2059.

So the basic playbook from this: buy cheap during recessions, wait for the boom, then sell high when markets are running. Skip selling during panic years and just weather the storm. The periods when to make money really depend on understanding where you are in this cycle.

Obviously this isn't gospel – markets get hit by a ton of variables like geopolitics, tech disruption, policy shifts, wars. But looking at it as a long-term framework for understanding market rhythms? Pretty interesting perspective on how these cycles have historically played out.