S&P 500 index is up 19% so far this year, here I dig into the data on what’s driving it and what’s going on under the surface of the index.
Investing
2021 Mid-Year Review
S&P 500 has been steadily trending up all year and hasn’t been too far from all-time highs.
2020 Review: Economy Edition
Now that full-year GDP numbers are out I can finish the 2020 year-in-review series by taking a look at major economic indicators. Needless to say last year’s economic datapoints will be massive outliers on long-term charts for years and decades to come.
2020 Review: Sectors, Stocks & International
Let’s take a look at 2020 performance of the U.S. sectors and industries. Technology stocks had a banner year lead by semiconductors.
2020 Review: Significant Events and Major Asset Classes
Reviewing major stories of 2020 and how they affected the major asset class performance
COVID Stocks versus Reopening Basket
To analyze impact of major COVID developments, I created two baskets of stocks. Each is a simple equally-weighted 20-stock basket with 5% allocation to every company. I chose the stocks subjectively and tried to represent various “angles” of the COVID trade without having too many airlines, online retailers or medical plays.
COVID Impact On Company Fundamentals
There were 38 companies in the S&P 500 with Q2 revenue decline of 50% or more. It makes sense that concerts, cruise operators, hotels/casinos, airlines and travel sites are heavily represented. There was very little activity in those areas in April, May and June. Energy sector is also featured prominently.
MARKET UPDATE 6/25/20
As this is being written, the wild ride for the stock market continues, although it is softened by the historically quick recovery from the market bottom of March 23.
Mid-year(ish) Market Review in a Global Pandemic
Now that the market has had a solid bounce off the bottom, I wanted to review where we stand.
Highlights of the Recent Government Actions in Response to Coronavirus
On Friday, March 25 the $2 trillion “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” (H.R. 748) also known as the CARES Act was signed into law. Below is a summary of what it and other recent government actions mean to our clients.