Concerns over the impact of inflation on interest rates, consumer spending and corporate profits have pushed the broad market back toward bear market territory. How can long-term investors maintain perspective in this challenging environment?
This week the S&P 500 officially fell beyond -20% from its prior peak, which is the definition of a bear market. Rapid inflation across the economy has affected consumers and businesses. These pressures have pushed interest rates higher across the curve. Altogether, these events have led investors to swiftly reevaluate asset prices across financial markets, resulting in steep declines this year. Find out how investors can best position for bear markets.
The question at the forefront of investors' minds is whether the economy can achieve a so-called "soft landing" in the face of high inflation, rising interest rates, Fed rate hikes, geopolitical conflicts, and other challenges. What market and economic measures should long-term investors focus on in the coming months?
Investors often find it more natural to be pessimistic. After all, with one's hard-earned savings on the line, it's hard not to focus on what can go wrong. This is made worse by the vast number of negative events and attention-grabbing headlines every day. In contrast, real progress tends to happen slowly - often at a barely perceptible pace. Even so, this drives the stock market higher over the course of years and decades.
As we approach the end of 2020, the stock market is hovering near record highs. While there have been many lessons for long-term investors this year, there are also recent developments that will matter in the years to come. From learning to manage COVID-19 to the presidential election, big events rattled markets but also showed the importance of patient perseverance. It's important for investors to hold onto these lessons by focusing on key trends rather than daily market swings.
As many of you may have heard the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law on Friday March 27, 2020. This is a large bill, both in scope and in size; it provides total aid of about $2.2 trillion to jump start an economy that has been stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a lot of zeroes, but there are also some big pluses in there for you, and we want to point out some of the most important highlights.