The first three months of 2021 saw continued growth in U.S. equities at a remarkable pace. The Wilshire 5000 index which represents all U.S. stocks increased 6.41%. Continued expansion at that pace would annualize to a gain of more than 25%!

The stock and bond markets in 2020 were crazy just like everything else about 2020! The journey to a significantly positive year for the Wilshire 5000 Total Stock Market was nothing short of remarkable. The wild ride occurred primarily in three extreme phases.

The U.S. stock market achieved significant gains for the 2nd straight quarter following the pandemic induced selloff of February and March 2020. Fixed income also advanced with the overall bond market returning a little less than 1% with municipals and corporates faring better than government bonds.

Almost as quickly as the market deteriorated during February and March of this year, we have experienced a remarkable resurgence during the second quarter. During the past few months, the S&P 500 has erased most of its losses from earlier this year. On the heels of unprecedented Federal Reserve stimulus, the markets are pricing in a return to prosperity….. or at least for technology.

The environment for investing in 2019 proved to be highly accommodating and will likely be remembered as one of the best investing years that many investors have, or will ever participate in. 

The U.S. stock market produced modest growth during the 3rd quarter of 2019, while U.S. bonds powered ahead with a return that was double the stock market return.

As the stock market continues to reach and exceed all-time record highs, we are maintaining a cautiously optimistic asset allocation for investment portfolios.

The stock market during the first quarter (March 9th, 2019) marked the 10th anniversary of the current bull market run.  U.S. stocks during the first three months of 2019 once again demonstrated just how resilient this bull market is.

After a turbulent end to 2018 seeing the S&P 500 decline over 14% in the 4th Quarter, markets have recovered meaningfully in the early part of 2019.  And while we continue to be optimistic about the near-term economy, we are growing cautious about risks to portfolios given the almost 10-year bull market for US Equities.

After years of consistent returns, volatility has returned to the market in 2018.