The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 index of 500 of America's biggest companies, has been surging recently. At one point in October 2022, the index sat at 3,583. By July 2024, last month, it was up a whopping 57% to 5,615. That's enough to discourage many investors, who may be thinking that it's too late to invest in stocks now.

That's wrong-headed thinking, though -- because you never know what the stock market will do from day to day or year to year. Consider, for example, that after posting gains in eight consecutive years, from 2009 to 2016 (with six of the eight being double-digit gains), when you'd think it was due to drop, the S&P 500 went on to gain nearly 22% in 2017. Trying to time the market is a waste of time.

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Source Fool.com