Unlike most amusement parks during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Market’s Wild Ride has remained open for business. Following the fastest fall in history from a record high to a bear market over the course of February and March, the S&P 500 staged its quickest-ever rebound from a bear market to a new record high, which was reached in August. The entire whirlwind round trip took place in just 126 trading days. To put that into perspective, a typical peak-to-peak recovery takes an average of more than 1,500 trading sessions, equivalent to about six years. The market’s rally is even more striking when set against the backdrop of an economy that is attempting to claw its way back from one of the sharpest recessions in U.S. history stemming from a pandemic that has yet to be contained.
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