Long-Term Treasury Bonds drawdown: 52.1% below the all-time high
Long-Term Treasury Bonds is 52.1% below its all-time high, set Aug 4, 2020 (as of market close, Sep 4, 2026). The chart shows every day as a percentage of the highest level reached up to that point: 100% means a fresh record, everything below is a drawdown.
- Below all-time high
- −52.1%
- 47.9% of ATH
- All-time high
- $171.57
- Aug 4, 2020
- Time below the high
- 6.1 yrs
- since Aug 4, 2020
- Worst-ever drawdown
- −52.6%
- Aug 17, 2026
- Longest underwater
- 6.1 yrs
- between all-time highs
- Today's level first reached
- Jul 31, 2002
- 24.1 yrs ago
- Last time this deep
- never before
- no prior −52.1% episode
% of all-time high since 2002#
The classic underwater chart (drawdown curve), drawn as % of the all-time high — 100% is a fresh record, everything below it is time spent underwater. Basis and range are in the URL, so a particular view is a link.
The deepest drawdowns on record#
Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.
| Peak | Trough | Depth | Peak → trough | Recovered by | Underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2020 | Aug 17, 2026 | −52.6% | 6.0 yrs | not yet | 6.1 yrs+ |
| Dec 19, 2008 | Apr 5, 2010 | −28.5% | 16 mo | Sep 22, 2011 | 2.8 yrs |
| Jul 25, 2012 | Dec 27, 2013 | −23.0% | 17 mo | Jan 14, 2015 | 2.5 yrs |
| Jul 8, 2016 | Nov 2, 2018 | −22.0% | 2.3 yrs | Aug 14, 2019 | 3.1 yrs |
| Jun 13, 2003 | May 13, 2004 | −17.0% | 11 mo | Mar 20, 2008 | 4.8 yrs |
| Jan 30, 2015 | Jun 26, 2015 | −16.7% | 5 mo | Jun 27, 2016 | 17 mo |
| Mar 9, 2020 | Mar 18, 2020 | −15.7% | 9 days | Apr 21, 2020 | 43 days |
Price basis (no dividends) — the convention crash histories use. With dividends reinvested, recoveries arrive years earlier; switch the basis on the chart above to see it.
Drawdown vs what came next#
One dot per month since 2002: how far Long-Term Treasury Bonds stood below its all-time high, and the total return over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.
Read this with survivorship bias in mind: a single asset's history is one surviving sample, so past recoveries here say little about the odds ahead. Monthly windows also overlap heavily (they are not independent samples). Not investment advice.
FAQ#
- How far is Long-Term Treasury Bonds from its all-time high?
- Long-Term Treasury Bonds is currently 52.1% below its all-time high, set Aug 4, 2020 (as of market close, Sep 4, 2026). Prices only, the convention headlines use; with dividends reinvested the gap is usually smaller.
- What was the biggest Long-Term Treasury Bonds drawdown ever?
- The deepest decline on record in our data (since 2002) took Long-Term Treasury Bonds 52.6% below its prior high, bottoming Aug 17, 2026. The table on this page lists every major episode with its peak, trough and recovery date.
Methodology & related#
Daily data since 2002 from TLT, Long-Term Treasury Bonds's tracking fund; no free deep history exists for Long-Term Treasury Bonds — for a 150-year drawdown record see the S&P 500 drawdown page. The price basis excludes dividends; the total-return basis reinvests them; the real basis additionally deflates by CPI. See also returns by year. Past performance does not predict future returns; not investment advice.