For Only the Third Time in 75 Years, a Prominent Economic Indicator Is Making History. Unfortunately, It's for All the Wrong Reasons.
Volatility is an expectation when investors put their money to work on Wall Street. However, the vacillations in the ageless Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), benchmark S 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and growth-powered Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) have been otherworldly since the beginning of 2020.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic plunged all three indexes into a bear market at the fastest pace in history. Though the 2022 bear market was more orderly, it still left the Nasdaq Composite staring down a 33% decline. Meanwhile, access to historically cheap capital and ongoing fiscal stimulus created a level of investor euphoria that sent the Dow, S 500, and Nasdaq Composite catapulting to new highs in 2021.
After such wild swings on Wall Street, investors want one simple question answered: What's next for the stock market?
Source Fool.com