It might be hard to believe, but in just seven weeks we’ll be saying our goodbyes to 2019. Although investors have endured a couple of short-lived rough patches, it’s been an exceptionally strong year for the stock market. The broad-based S&P 500 is up 23%, the iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 18%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has returned almost 27%.
How good are these returns? Well, let’s just say that the S&P 500, inclusive of dividends and when adjusted for inflation, has historically returned 7% annually, with the Dow closer to 5.7% a year, on average, over its 123-year history.
And it’s not just these indexes that stand out. Of companies with a market cap of $300 million or larger, 124 have gained at least 100% year to date, through Nov. 5. Just because the calendar is about to change over to a new year doesn’t mean this optimism can’t carry over.
