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…
Investment results for the first quarter of 2022 were a disappointment, to say the least. The major averages declined substantially, but not disastrously: S&P 500 (large-cap) – 4.60% Russell 2000 (small-cap) – 5.13% EAFE (developed international) – 5.91% Two types of investments had returns that seem pretty terrible, though. Almost everyone owns a good portion…
Conventional wisdom (at least conventional wisdom practiced by CNBC and Bloomberg) holds that when the Federal Reserve begins a series of rate increases, the stock market suffers broad-based losses. The Fed has made it clear that it intends to start increasing rates soon to combat inflation. So, is the stock market doomed to have a…