The stock market reached a new all-time high on January 27th as hopes for strong corporate earnings, slowing inflation growth, and interest rate cuts buoyed investor sentiment.  However, February saw the beginning of weakness driven by renewed AI and private credit concerns as well as increasing tensions in Iran that boiled over into a full-blown […]

Following returns of over 25% in 2023 and 2024, the S&P 500 delivered another robust gain in 2025, rising 17.9%.  This gain was quite remarkable considering the “tariff tantrum” in April that nearly led to a bear market, as well as fourth quarter concerns over Federal Reserve policy, the longest government shutdown in history, and […]

The S&P 500 marched higher in the third quarter as continued improvement in the corporate earnings outlook, fading trade policy concerns, a robust AI-driven capex cycle, and the resumption of the Federal Reserve’s rate cutting cycle drove the index to its best quarter of 2025.  Mega-cap growth stocks again led the market to new all-time […]

After a steep drop to near bear market levels in April, strong corporate earnings and outlooks, coupled with tariff de-escalation, helped the S&P 500 rebound and close the second quarter at a fresh all-time high of 6,205.   The second quarter’s robust 10.9% return erased the first quarter’s negative return and brought total year-to-date index gains […]

2025 started off in promising fashion, with the S&P 500 gaining 4.6% to a fresh all-time high of 6,147 on February 19th.  The index then dropped over 10.0% into correction territory, rebounded, and finally rolled over again to end the quarter -4.3%, at 5,611.  This volatility has extended into 2Q.  Many investors worry that the […]

The S&P 500 ended 2024 on a high note, weathering a few periods of high volatility in the fourth quarter to gain 2.4% and close at 5,882, just 3% below the all-time high set in early December.  For the year, the market moved 25.0% higher, on top of 2023’s impressive 26.3% move.  Inflation growth continued […]

Despite a few brief unsettled periods in August and September, the S&P 500 moved 5.9% higher in the third quarter of 2024, closing at an all-time high of 5,762 and bringing its very solid year-to-date gain to 22.1%.  While the job market softened somewhat, inflation growth continued to slow, positive GDP growth persisted, and the […]

After pulling back in April, the S&P 500 continued to surprise market forecasters by moving 4.3% higher in the second quarter, closing just below a record high and bringing its first half gain to a very solid 15.3%.  While the labor market began to soften late in the quarter, the overall economy remains decent, inflation […]

The S&P 500 continued its nearly unabated move higher in the first quarter, vaulting upward by 10.6% to end the quarter at 5,254, a new all-time high.  Inflation picked up marginally, as did earnings expectations.  Investor confidence that the Federal Reserve can achieve its inflation target without causing a recession also helped drive the market. […]

The S&P 500 regained its winning ways in the fourth quarter, ripping higher by 11.7% to close at 4,769, just 1% below its all-time closing high reached in January 2022.  The S&P 500 advanced a healthy 26.3% in 2023, a welcome reversal of the steep losses in 2022.  Inflation growth continued to slow during the […]