Recent Articles

Sudden market downturns can be unsettling. But historically, US equity returns following sharp downturns have, on average, been positive. A broad market index shows that US stocks have tended to deliver positive returns over one-, three-, and five-year periods following steep declines. Cumulative returns show this to striking effect. Five years after market declines of […]

The impact of being out of the market for a short time can be profound, as shown by this hypothetical investment in the Russell 3000 Index, a broad US stock market benchmark. Staying invested and focused on the long term helps to ensure that you’re in position to capture what the market has to offer.

Since 1926, the US stock market has rewarded investors with an annualized return of about 10%. But returns in any given year maybe sky-high, extremely poor, or somewhere in between. Understanding the range of potential outcomes can help you stick with a pan and ride out the inevitable ups and downs. Past performance is no

It’s natural for investors to look for a connection between who wins the White House and which way stocks will go. But regardless of who wins, nearly a century of returns shows that stocks have trended upward. Stocks have rewarded disciplined investors for decades, through both Democratic and Republican presidencies. Past performance is not a

Nearly a century of US stock market returns suggests that making investment decisions based on control of the chambers of Congress is unlikely to lead to better financial outcomes. Stocks tend to reward disciplined investors no matter who has the upper hand in the House and Senate. Past performance is not a guarantee of future

Since 1926, the US stock market has rewarded investors with an annualized return of about 10%. But returns in any given year may be sky-high, extremely poor, or somewhere in between. Understanding the range of potential outcomes can help you stick with a plan and ride out the inevitable ups and downs. Past performance is

The Long and Short of It  Value stocks have gone through periods of both extreme over- and underperformance in recent years—a reminder that even reliable premiums can be volatile over shorter periods. Value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in the long run, though the road can be bumpy. Disciplined investors may be rewarded for staying

Investment opportunities exist all around the globe, but the randomness of global stock returns makes it exceedingly difficult to figure out which markets are likely to be outperformers. How should investors deal with this kind of uncertainty? First, they should remember that it’s challenging, at best, to predict a country’s returns by looking at the