Following a mostly calm ride in 2021, the stock market experienced serious turbulence due to both expected and unexpected factors in the first quarter of 2022.  Persistent inflation, a new Federal Reserve interest rate hiking cycle, and a violent incursion by Russia into Ukraine generated volatility not seen in a year.  The S&P 500 underwent […]

The S&P 500 Index continued its remarkable run in the fourth quarter, climbing the proverbial wall of worry to close the year on a very high note.  Amid concerns about inflation and supply chains, Federal Reserve tapering, and COVID-19 variants, the index gained 11.0% in the quarter and hit a new all-time high on December […]

Picking up where it left off at the end of the second quarter, the S&P 500 continued hitting new record highs in the third quarter.  Generally positive global vaccination and re-opening efforts, combined with sustained monetary and fiscal stimulus, offset the temporary economic headwinds from a spike in Delta variant COVID-19 cases.  The S&P 500 […]

Fueled by rapidly dropping global COVID-19 cases and continued monetary and fiscal stimulus, equity markets continued to hit new record highs, with little volatility, in the second quarter.  Economic growth accelerated and the S&P 500 outpaced Q1’s solid return by gaining 8.5% to bring its year-to-date gain to 15.2%. The top performing sectors in the […]

In Loving Memory of R. Randall Grace, Jr. (1971-2021) The Chilton Investment team is shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our friend and colleague, Randall Grace. Randall was an incredibly talented and hard-working teammate who contributed immensely to the success of the G&I team and Chilton as a whole. We will miss […]

A resilient, forward looking market rounded out 2020 with a third consecutive quarter of impressive gains. The S&P 500 index added 12.1% in the quarter, closing at an all-time high of 3,756 on December 31st, and registering a surprisingly strong 18.4% total return for the year. Top performing sectors in 2020 were Information Technology, Consumer […]

Supported by a continued global economic recovery, the market tacked on more gains in the third quarter. The S&P 500 index returned 8.5% (8.9% with dividends) to bring its year-to-date total return to 5.6%. This follows a significant (>50%) move higher from March lows. As a matter of fact, the index hit a new all-time […]

After finishing the first quarter at depressed levels, growing evidence of an economic recovery as well as highly supportive government monetary and fiscal stimulus helped drive the S&P 500 20% higher in Q2, its biggest move in over twenty years. Remarkably at one point, the index even revisited unchanged territory for the year. However, the […]

A lifetime’s worth of market action was packed into an unbelievably chaotic first quarter of 2020. After an early +5% move to an all-time high of 3,386 on February 19th, the quickly spreading coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, along with the collapse of the oil markets, pushed the S&P 500 down 34% to a new multi-year low. […]

  After a harrowing end to 2018, which left the S&P 500 at a depressed starting point, an accommodative Federal Reserve and progress on trade wars drove the index to new all-time highs in 2019. Stocks gained ground each quarter, including a +9.1% fourth quarter move, finishing the year with a +31.5% total return, the […]