The many students who have recently returned to school can only hope for grades like the stock market has posted for most of the year. Over the past several months, the market has successfully shrugged off a number of concerns, including extended valuations, rising inflation, and a slowdown in the economic recovery caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19. The result has been an unusually steady climb higher by the market for most of the year with just a few minor blips along the way. In fact, the S&P 500 has doubled since bottoming in March of 2020 without a single 10% correction during that span. A rise in interest rates represents the latest challenge for stocks and has added some volatility to the market in recent days. The result has been the first 5% pullback in the market since just before the election last year, ending what had been the second-longest stretch without such a decline over the past 25 years and the 8th longest streak since 1930. There has also been some choppiness below the market’s surface throughout the year, with bigger fluctuations among various sectors of the market that have come in and out of favor. However, the market as a whole has been pretty resilient, with the S&P 500 remaining just a handful of percentage points off its high.
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