How every portfolio fared in the eurozone debt crisis

A sovereign-debt scare and a US downgrade cut the S&P 500 ~19% in months before a swift snap-back.

Window 2011-04-29 to 2012-03-13 · six allocations · computed 2026-07-19 with the same engine the app runs. Ranked by real return, best first.

40% gold tilt+1.9%20% gold tilt+1.2%Permanent-style+0.7%All equities+0.3%60/40 (stocks/cash)−0.1%Tangible 60−5.1%
Real return over the window. Green preserved purchasing power; red lost it.
#AllocationReal returnMax drawdownPP ratioRecovery
1 40% gold tilt (40% gold · 40% equities · 20% cash) +1.9% −8.5% 1.02× 36 days Read
2 20% gold tilt (60% equities · 20% gold · 20% cash) +1.2% −11.5% 1.01× 4.0 months Read
3 Permanent-style (25% gold · 25% equities · 25% cash · 25% commodities) +0.7% −5.8% 1.01× 4.2 months Read
4 All equities (100% equities) +0.3% −20.3% 1.00× 5.3 months Read
5 60/40 (stocks/cash) (60% equities · 40% cash) −0.1% −12.9% 1.00× not recovered in window Read
6 Tangible 60 (30% gold · 30% equities · 15% silver · 15% commodities · 10% cash) −5.1% −11.8% 0.95× not recovered in window Read

Across this window, 40% gold tilt preserved the most real value at +1.9%, while Tangible 60 did the worst at −5.1%. The shallowest real drawdown belonged to Permanent-style at −5.8%. Returns are real (CPI-deflated), after quarterly rebalancing and physical coin costs.

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Purchasing-power ratio is real terminal value ÷ real starting value: above 1.00× means the mix ended the window richer in real terms. Sources and definitions: methodology.

Educational estimates, not financial advice