BEAT THE COUCH · THE DAILY ARCHIVE · DEALT SEP 27, 2026

Day 78 · The WWII Bull Market

THE SECRET WINDOW: JUL 16, 1942 TO JUL 19, 1944 · 504 TRADING DAYS

On September 27, 2026 everyone who opened the game got the same secret two years: July 16, 1942 to July 19, 1944, the WWII bull market. The couch bought on day one, never sold, and turned $10,000 into $16,318 (+63.2%). 9% of the players who tried beat it.

THE COUCH'S $10,000, DAY BY DAY, REAL DAILY DATA

$10,000 START $16,318 Jul 16, 1942 Jul 19, 1944

What the couch did

ENDED WITH$16,318 (+63.2%)
WORST DRAWDOWN-12% by Nov 29, 1943
WORST SINGLE DAY-3.9% Apr 9, 1943
BEST SINGLE DAY+2.3% Jun 12, 1944
CASH INSTEAD (T-BILLS)+0.7%

The era

The WWII bull market. The market bottomed months after Pearl Harbor and then more than doubled while the war was still being fought. The headlines were terrifying the whole way up.

THE EXHIBIT: THE WWII BULL MARKET. EVERYONE WHO PLAYED WAS THERE.

What the players did

BEAT THE COUCH9.1%
  WITH CERTIFIED SKILL0.0%
  BY LUCK9.1%
COUCH WINS81.8%
DEAD HEAT9.1%
ENLIGHTENED (TOUCHED NOTHING)0.0%
MEDIAN RESULT vs THE COUCH-12.7%
MEDIAN TRADES6
MEDIAN TIME IN MARKET68%

The read

A rising market, which is where timing goes to die. Only 9% of players beat the couch, and the median player finished 12.7% behind it. Every day in cash was a day the couch got paid for sitting still.

Player figures count every official and replayed attempt at this exact hand filed on the day it was dealt, from the run export of October 31, 2026. A win counts as SKILL only if it beats 90% of 1,000 monkeys replaying the same window with the same trade count and the same time in the market. Across the whole ledger the couch wins 62% of 120,800 games.

The archive has the long version of this stretch: Could You Have Bought the Bottom of World War II?

Play the past handthe same two years everyone got on Sep 27, 2026. Free, no signup. No streak, no standings: filed as a REPLAY.

Or play today's hand. It stays secret until tomorrow.

Frequently asked

What was the Beat the Couch daily hand on September 27, 2026?

Day 78 dealt the two years from July 16, 1942 to July 19, 1944, the WWII bull market. A couch that bought on day one and never sold turned $10,000 into $16,318 (+63.2%).

How often did players beat the couch on day 78?

9.1% of the players who filed the hand beat the couch. 0.0% passed the 1,000-monkey skill audit; the rest of the winners were stamped LUCKY.

Can I still play the day 78 hand?

Yes. The past hand button deals the exact same window. It is filed as a replay: it does not touch your streak, the daily standings or the public ledger.

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Not financial advice. The couch is not licensed for anything.