The price of natural gas per Mcf was around $3.00 in 1986. Yesterday, the price of natural gas per MMBtu (1.03 Mcfs) was $6.22.

If you had invested $3 in 1986 and it was worth around $6 today, you would be disappointed in your choice.

The S&P 500 Index was around 250 in 1986. Today it closed at 1553.

It looks like (1) energy is not as expensive as you think it is, and (2) the strategy of index investing ain't all that bad.