Originally published as a letter to clients on 9/8/2022. Investors have a lot of choices. They can invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange traded funds (ETFs). They can invest in passive indexes or with active managers. They can pick from an almost unlimited number of investment styles (growth, value, international, small-cap, etc.)…
It is painful to open your investment report and see the losses for the first six months of the year. How bad were the first six months? The -19.96% return for the S&P 500 was the worst start to a year since 1970. The -10.35% return for the Aggregate Bond Index was the worst start…
Both stocks (represented by the S&P 500) and bonds (represented by the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index [AGG]) have had horrendous returns so far this year. At the end of last week, the year-to-date losses for the S&P 500 and the AGG were (22.33%) and (11.48%), respectively. The reasons for the declines are: Inflation The…