This morning, I spent some time reflecting on the recent spike in volatility in the investment markets and wanted to share some insights that I hope will be helpful for anyone getting nervous about their portfolios. The first thing to note is that this is completely normal market behavior. In fact, a lot of professionals would say that this pullback is actually a sign of a healthy market!
Every year, the top strategists from Wall Street’s biggest banks make their predictions for the S&P 500. We like to compile these predictions along with some commentary and share them with you. Please take these with a grain of salt as many of them are wrong as often as they are right. This is purely educational and not meant to be portrayed as a “market call”.
September has lived up to its reputation as the worst month for the stock market. The S&P finished down -4.65% for the month. Since 1945, the S&P 500 has averaged a -.56% decline.
So far this year there has been a lot to be positive about from an economic perspective. Record amounts of monetary and fiscal stimulus has led to record consumer savings and wealth.
The 7-day moving average number of U.S. COVID-19 cases has fallen below 49,000 while the 7-day moving average number of deaths has fallen below 700 per day.
With the first quarter of 2021 already in the books, positive economic data points to a sustained recovery for the remainder of the year.
In mid-February a positive retail sales report showed a full recovery back above pre-pandemic levels and an all-time high in notional terms.
For the fourth quarter of 2020 GDP grew at an annual rate of 4%, which was a touch lower than most projections.
Global economic uncertainty continues to drive markets as we enter the 4th quarter
If you watch the news or view your investment accounts daily, you will be aware that yesterday was a tough day for U.S. equity markets.
Sending you into the weekend, here are some of the interesting articles the team at Blue Bell has been reading this week.
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