Insights & Blogs

Strength from the last year continued into January, with the markets starting off the beginning of 2025 on a positive note.

Tuesday’s close marked the end of 2024, and while December was a down month, it was still an overwhelmingly strong year for the markets.

The market saw a major rebound in November as uncertainty surrounding the US Presidentialelection was alleviated. The S&P 500 gained 5.7% last month, bringing its year-to-date return to26.5%, which would be the highest since 2021.

After few months of strong gains, the market finally took an exhale in October. The S&P 500 broke its streak of five consecutive positive calendar months, losing -0.99%.

September has historically been the worst month of the year for markets, but that didn’t stop the S&P 500 and Dow Jones from setting several new all-time highs, gaining 2.02% and 1.85%, respectively.

August was a wild ride for the market. The S&P 500 (SPX) saw a respectable gain of 2.28%, with the Dow Jones (.DJIA) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) rising by 1.76% and 0.65%, respectively. However, it took quite the unusual path to get there.

In our June Client Newsletter, we said that if soldiers ditched the generals in battle it would end in defeat because generals cannot win a battle on their own. In that metaphor the largest stocks in the market (Magnificent 7) were the generals and the rest were the soldiers. Well, the soldiers stormed the battlefield in July.

We just closed the second quarter (Q2) of 2024. Unfortunately, the average stock did not perform well in Q2,but the biggest stocks did, creating a notable disparity between the generals of the S&P 500 and thesoldiers.

Stocks rebounded in May, defying the old market adage that suggests seasonal weakness. The S&P 500 has now posted a gain in the month of May for five straight years, and nine of the last 10 years.

There is an old market adage that goes, “Sell in May and Go Away.” It is based on data that suggests the bulk of returns come between the fall and summer months (November – April). This year, that should have been amended to sell in April.

Markets were up again in March, extending an already historic win streak. The S&P 500 (SPX) gained over 3%, the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) added 1.2%, and the Russell 2000 (RUT) appreciated 3.4%. SPX and NDX have now closed five straight months in the green.

February is typically a weaker month for markets. Since 1928 the S&P 500 (SPX) has averaged a loss of 0.07% and closed positive just 55% of the time.