As we begin the final quarter of 2024, financial markets and the economy have defied the expectations of many investors. Rather than falling into recession, the economy has grown steadily, albeit at a slower pace, and inflation rates have fallen toward the Fed’s target. As a result, the macroeconomic environment has shifted to a monetary easing cycle, propelling the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to new all-time highs and boosting bond returns. The first three quarters of the year are a reminder that it’s often best to focus on the longer-term trends rather than events in the rearview mirror.

2024 began with debates over a “soft” versus “hard” landing as the Fed attempted to stabilize the economy as well as over the sustainability of last year’s market rally. Only three months later, those concerns have given way to a calmer environment centered around fading inflation and the Fed’s plans for reducing interest rates. This has resulted in a strong market rally with the S&P 500 index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq gaining 10.2%, 5.6%, and 9.1% year-to-date, respectively.

2023 marked an inflection point for markets with strong gains across both stocks and bonds. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq generated exceptional returns of 26.3%, 16.2%, and 44.7% with reinvested dividends last year, respectively. The S&P has come full circle and is now only a fraction of a percentage point below the all-time high from exactly two years ago. The U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield climbed as high as 5% in October before falling to end the year around 3.9%, pushing bond prices higher in the process. International stocks also performed well with developed markets returning 18.9% and emerging markets 10.3%.

As the final quarter of the year begins, markets are grappling with rising interest rates and continued economic uncertainty. These factors led the S&P 500 to decline 3.3% (with reinvested dividends) during the third quarter while the U.S. Aggregate bond index lost 3.2%. On the surface, these issues echo the many concerns that investors faced last year when inflation and higher rates resulted in a bear market. Other factors including the narrowly averted government shutdown and cracks in China's economy have also added to investor fears. Amid the seemingly constant stream of negative headlines, how can long-term investors stay positive as they prepare for the final months of the year?

Drew Cook, CFP® is a Charlotte, NC fee-only financial planner.  He joined Level Wealth Management because of his shared priorities to always serve clients as a fiduciary and to let financial planning drive fees instead of an account balance.

Major stock market indices made significant gains in the first half of the year due to improving inflation, slowing Fed rate hikes, the absence of a recession, a more stable banking sector, and a strong rally in tech stocks. The S&P 500 has climbed 16.9% with reinvested dividends this year, while the Nasdaq and Dow have returned 32.3% and 4.9%, respectively.

In times of market uncertainty, investors often turn to sayings such as "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" and "history never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme." When it comes to the day-to-day headlines, both quotes are relevant given the long history of banking crises and market swings.

2022 was a challenging year for investors. Markets fell into bear market territory and experienced the worst annual performance since 2008. The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq declined 19.4%, 8.8% and 33.1%, respectively, last year. Interest rates swung wildly with the 10-year Treasury yield jumping from 1.51% at the start of the year to a high of 4.24%, before ending at 3.88%. This mirrored inflation as the Consumer Price Index climbed to a 40-year high of 9.1% in September. As a result, the Fed hiked rates seven consecutive times from 0% last March to 4.25% in December. Along the way, a multitude of other events impacted markets from the war in Ukraine to China's zero-Covid policy, affecting everything from oil prices to the U.S. dollar.

Investors have navigated a difficult market all year and the third quarter was no exception. All major indices ended the quarter in bear market territory with the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq declining 5.3%, 6.7%, and 4.1%, respectively, from July to September. With the dollar strengthening and the global economy slowing, the MSCI EAFE index of international developed markets fell 10% over the same period in dollar terms, while the MSCI EM index of emerging markets pulled back 12.5%. Interest rates jumped with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing above 4% on an intra-day basis, the highest level since 2008. The challenges of persistently high inflation and slowing growth have continued to impact the expectations of both investors and policymakers.

Welcome to 2022! With the ups and downs of the market and the on-going pandemic, the fact that we are approaching the third year of the business cycle may surprise some investors. After the headlines of the past year, one might expect that the market would have struggled. Events during this period include the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the delta and omicron variants, the foreign policy disaster in Afghanistan, Fed tapering, challenges passing new fiscal bills, reddit trades, the rise of cryptocurrencies, China's bursting housing bubble, inflation at multi-decade highs, supply chain disruptions, and many more. As in most years, there was no shortage of reasons to be pessimistic in 2021.

As we begin the final quarter of 2021, the economy is shifting from a recovery phase to a sustained expansion. Investor sentiment has shifted alongside this, swinging from bullishness to bearishness. This is understandable because, while the underlying trends are positive, it's no longer the case that the economy and markets have nowhere to go but up. Challenges such as the pace of growth, fears of stagflation, debt problems in China, Fed policy, the government debt ceiling and more are weighing on investors' minds. How can investors balance risk and reward with a long-term perspective during the final months of the year?

This is a challenging time for so many reasons. There is the concern of potentially contracting the virus. There is also the discomfort of seeing our investment accounts go down, experiencing uncertainty with our jobs or with your children’s jobs. We knew at some point there would be another downturn. We just didn’t know when it would happen or how bad it would be.