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Looking Down Looking Back
There’s no ignoring the performance of equities these days and that’s a good thing. A correcting or bear or underwater market reminds every single investor—and non-investor—that: “Yes, Virginia, stock prices don’t always climb upward as they have for the past almost 10 years.”
So as you review your portfolio, consider that there are always investment opportunities no matter what’s happening on Wall Street. Bunches of investors have made their fortunes investing when equity news hasn’t been so hot.
Furthermore, taking a longer look back on your investment returns may show you things you’ve forgotten.
For instance, The Bespoke Investment Group publishes its “Bespoke 50” list of growth stocks in the Russell 3,000.
Bespoke began publishing the list in 2012 and since that time returns have beaten the S&P 500 by 80.5%.
Today, that list is up 176.8% since inception while the S&P 500’s gain (through 12/6/18) was 96.2%.
So Virginia, things might not be as bad as they appear.
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Market Quick Glance
Ed Clissold, a bear market official at Ned Davis Research, says that the bear market is officially here. At the same time, he’s optimistic about next year and expects to see a rally during the second half of 2019.
We shall see.
In case you’ve forgotten, it’s been nearly 10 years since the bear claws have shown up on Wall Street. And, a bear market is defined as a fall of 20% from an index’s recent high.
Below are the weekly and 1-year index performance results for the four major indices—DJIA, S&P 500 and NASDAQ — including the dates each reached new highs. Data is according to CNBC.com and based on prices at the close of business on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018.
–DJIA -1.34% YTD big move down from the previous week’s 3.31%.
- 1 yr. Rtn 0.73% way down from the previous week 5.22%
Most recent DJIA a new ALL-TIME CLOSING HIGH was reached on Oct.3, 2018 of 26,951.81. The previous high was reached on Sept. 21, 2018 of 26,796.16.
-S&P 500 -1.52% YTD a big move down from last week’s 3.24%
- 1 yr. Rtn -0.15% way down from last week’s 4.25%
The S&P 500 reached a BRAND NEW CLOSING ALL-TIME HIGH on Sept. 21, 2018 of 2,940.91. The previous closing high was reached on August 29, 2018 of 2,916.50.
-NASDAQ 0.95% YTD big move down from last week’s 6.19%
- 1yr Rtn 2.30% way down from last week’s 6.64%
Nasdaq reached a BRAND NEW 52-week CLOSING HIGH on August 30, 2018 of 8,1333.30. The previous high was reached on August 24, 2018 of 7,949.71.
-Mutual Funds
The average year-to-date total return for funds that fall under the heading of U.S. Diversified Equity Funds stood at -0.94% at the close of business on Thursday, December 6, 2018, according to Lipper. That’s down from the previous week’s figure of 0.68%.
Fund types with the worst y-t-d returns include precious and basic metals funds.
For instance: Precious Metals Equity Funds, -21.65% for the year, on average; Basic Metals Funds, -17.92%; and Global Natural Resources Funds, -14.97%
Visit www.allaboutfunds.com for more information about how various equity and fixed-income funds have rewarded investors over the short-and long-term, based upon Lipper data. Short-term meaning weekly and monthly performance returns; longer-term includes quarterly, year-to-date, 1-yr, 2-yr, 3-yr and 5-yr returns.
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Got Gas?
Diversifying your investment portfolio has always made sense. Case in point: Commodities.
According to Bespoke Investment Group, while silver, copper, coffee, platinum, oil, gold and corn are all down between -2.9% (corn) and 15.7% (silver), all commodity prices aren’t in the tank.
2018 winners, so far, include orange juice, up 5.4%, wheat, up 5.7% and natural gas, up 47.2%.
Yahoo for gas!
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