Over the long run, Wall Street is a bona fide wealth-creating machine. Although gold, oil, housing, and Treasury bonds have increased in value over multiple decades, no asset class has come close to replicating the average annual returns delivered by stocks over the past century.

For example, including dividends paid, the benchmark S&P 500 has delivered just a hair north of a 10% annualized return since its official inception as a 500-company index in 1957. That's a hearty return that can double investors' money about every seven years.

But on an aggregate growth basis, the S&P 500 doesn't hold a candle to what semiconductor stock Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has done for investors since becoming a publicly traded company in 1999.

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Source Fool.com